15-Dec-2010 12:03 PM

Thai Airways' economy bookings lagging behind corporate; Jet expands international capacity

Thai Airways shares declined 3.7% yesterday. On the same day, Thai Airways President Piyasvasti Amranand stated its economy-class bookings are trailing corporate bookings due to the effect of the country’s political instability in Apr-2010. Mr Amranand added group tours and the conference market are also yet to recover. Load factors, standing at 75%, are also “lower than it should be”.

Shares in Cebu Pacific declined 0.2% yesterday. Parent company, JG Summit Holdings, witnessed a 6.3% stock decline as it was rated “neutral” by Credit Suisse with a PHP24.67 12-month share price estimate. The stock closed at PHP22.30 yesterday.

Continued pax growth for China Southern

China Southern shares gained 2.8% yesterday. The carrier reported a 3.7% increase in passenger numbers to 5.8 million in Nov-2010 with an average load factor of 76.5% (-1 ppt). Cargo volumes increased 15.8%.

Jet reports 15-20% growth in international capacity

Jet Airways stated it would resume direct services between India and China, Asia’s two fastest growing major economies, in 2011. The carrier also plans to add services to cities including Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei and Paris in the year commencing 01-Apr-2011. The carrier added that the new routes would likely boost annual revenue by at least 15%. The carrier plans to increase international capacity by 15-20% in the next fiscal year.

Shares in Jet Airways gained 2.2% yesterday. The shares have risen 40% this year, compared with a 12.9% gain on the Bombay Stock Exchange 200 Index.

Also recording share price gains yesterday was Japanese LCC, Skymark Airlines, with a 5.4% jump.

Asia Pacific selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 14-Dec-2010