Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) China Airlines (CAL) and EVA Airways (EVA Air), the two largest international carriers in Taiwan, saw demand for air travel in August soar on the back of strong demand during the summer vacation.
The two carriers said the average load factor or passenger load factor, which is an airline industry metric to measure how much of an airline's passenger carrying capacity is used, topped 80 percent in August.
In a statement, CAL said it posted its highest ever consolidated sales for August at NT$16.28 billion (US$508 million), up 27.64 percent from a year earlier, with revenue generated from its passenger flights surging 335.83 percent year-on-year to NT$10.81 billion.
In addition to summer vacation effects, market analysts said the airline industry has benefited from a surge in demand for air travel in the post COVID-19 era.
CAL said its passenger flight operations benefited from strong demand for flights to North America and Europe with seats on these routes more than 90 percent booked in August, while a move by the carrier to raise the number of flights to Northeast Asia also helped boost revenue in the month.
CAL added it will continue to expand passenger flight services, and with the launch of the Taipei to Kumamoto in Japan route on Sept. 18, the number of flights to Northeast Asia will hit 170 a week, with strong demand expected for passenger services during the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival holiday from Sept. 29-Oct. 1, and the Oct. 10 National Day holiday from Oct. 7-10.
As for its cargo services, CAL said sales rose 2.02 percent from a month earlier to NT$4.27 billion in August, adding demand for air cargo services is expected to increase as the year-end buying spree nears.
In the first eight months of this year, CAL's consolidated sales totaled NT$122.66 billion, up 22.93 percent.
For its part, EVA Air said it posted NT$18.17 billion in consolidated sales in August, up 51.24 percent from a year earlier with revenue generated from passenger flights soaring 246.95 percent year-on-year to NT$13.05 billion.
EVA Air said the average load factor on its flights to the North American and European markets surpassed 90 percent in August.
The carrier said with global passenger flight demand on the rise, it is planning to increase its number of flights to Seattle from seven a week currently to 10 in late October, raising the airline's total number of flights to North America to 87 a week.
In addition, the number of flights to Okinawa will also be increased from one to two a day in late October, EVA Air said.
In the first eight months of this year, EVA Air generated about NT$129.90 billion in consolidated sales, up 48.79 percent from a year earlier.
