With each passing month, Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary Scoot continue their steady ascent back to pre-pandemic levels, as newly revealed financial data shows.

One of the airline’s services to China, which had been halted since the beginning of the year, has also been reinstated.

There was a total of 2.08 million passengers on flights operated by the Singapore Airlines Group in July, an increase of 7.6% from June.

They were the most passengers in a single month before the outbreak. The last time the airlines saw more than two million passengers was in 2019.

The increase in passengers is a joint effort by Singapore Airlines and Scoot. From June’s 531,000 to July’s 612,900, Scoot saw a 15 percent increase in its passenger number.

Also, compared to July last year, when the budget airline carried only 22,100 passengers (a load factor of 8%), this year’s total of 86,100 passengers represents a huge increase. Liberalizing regulations and opening borders throughout Asia are directly responsible for Scoot’s success.

The group’s flagship airline, Singapore Airlines, also reported strong statistics, including a month-over-month gain of 70,000 passengers and an average load factor of 87.7 percent.

Although the airline performed well overall, it encountered the most significant difficulty in the East Asia region, where the load factor was only 72.6%. This was much lower than the 85.2% average for the rest of the world.

As a whole, Singapore Airlines’ load factor was 87.4%, which was very near to the record load factor of 87.9% established in December 2019 before the pandemic hit.

Scoot and Singapore Airlines are gradually returning to pre-pandemic operational levels regarding their operational reach. Compared to Singapore Airlines’ 73 destinations served, Scoot’s 87 destinations were in operation by the end of July.

The Singapore Airlines flight from Changi Airport to Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport is one of the 73 destinations. After being inactive since January, the route’s reinstatement marks the airline’s significant return to the Chinese market.