SINGAPORE Airlines' (SIA) passenger capacity recovered to slightly over a third of its pre-pandemic level in October, when the Republic expanded its vaccinated travel lane (VTL) scheme to 7 more countries.

 

The group, which includes its full-service carrier and low-cost carrier Scoot, carried 189,700 passengers in October, compared to just 49,000 a year ago.

 

Of these, SIA serviced 165,500 passengers, while Scoot carried 24,200 passengers.

 

The group' s passenger capacity, measured in available seat-kilometres, grew 6 per cent month on month in October, the national carrier said in an exchange filing on Monday after market close.

 

Passenger traffic, based on revenue passenger-kilometres, grew 13.9 per cent compared with September, when Singapore launched its first two VTLs to Brunei and Germany.

 

The VTLs, which allow vaccinated travellers to travel without quarantine, were extended to Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States from Oct 19.

 

Group passenger load factor (PLF) increased 4.1 percentage points year on year to 19.9 per cent in October, said the mainboard-listed company.

 

On a month-on-month basis, the PLF improved 1.4 percentage points due to a stronger demand to Europe and North America as a result of the VTLs, the company added.

 

Cargo operations saw a monthly cargo load factor (CLF) of 87.2 per cent following a 1.7 percentage point increase year on year. Freight tonne-kilometres rose 58.1 per cent on the back of a 55 per cent expansion in capacity.

 

The company said the East Asia and North American regions saw year-on-year increases in CLF in October.

 

Meanwhile, Scoot is adding seasonal flights to London' s Gatwick Airport via Bangkok from Dec 16 to 28 to cater to the year-end peak, with a full launch of the long-haul route in March, subject to regulatory approval.

 

The three-time weekly service will be Scoot' s third destination in Europe, after Athens, Greece and Berlin, Germany.

 

In November, the group' s VTL network will include Australia, South Korea and Switzerland.

 

The company said Canada will be added to the network when the seasonal Singapore-Seattle-Vancouver services begin from Dec 2.

 

It added that it is finalising flight schedules between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, following a recent announcement of a VTL between the two.