SINGAPORE - Momentum in travel recovery has been the tailwind for Singapore Airlines (SIA) as the flag carrier and its budget arm Scoot carried 2.1 million passengers in September, up 2.5 per cent from the previous month.

Demand remains strong across all routes except East Asia as travel restrictions remain in place in key markets, SIA said on Monday in a business update for September.

Group passenger capacity dipped 0.8 per cent month on month, but jumped 111.8 per cent from the previous year. This is about 67 per cent of pre-Covid-19 levels for September.

Across all markets, the passenger load factor (PLF) has improved at both SIA and Scoot, with the group-level PLF at 87 per cent for September. This is a 1.6 percentage point increase month on month and a surge of 68.5 percentage points from the year prior.

With increased passenger services resulting in higher bellyhold capacity, cargo operations have seen capacity expand by 33.3 per cent. However, cargo operations have seen a 31 percentage point fall year on year to 56.4 per cent for September’s load factor, while loads have declined 14 per cent year on year.

In September, SIA stepped up services to East Asia, reinstating services from Beijing, while Scoot resumed flying to Fuzhou and Osaka. SIA served 74 destinations and Scoot 48 destinations in September, while the cargo network consists of 107 destinations.

SIA shares were trading up four cents, or 0.8 per cent, at $5.04 at 9.18am on Tuesday after the business update. THE BUSINESS TIMES