Thanks for that clarification Jamie2K9.
For the period March - August 2010:
ALC-NOC 17,492 pax, 114 flights = 81% flown LF
ALC-LDY 11,745 pax, 82 flights = 76% flown LF
ALC-KIR 15,476 pax, 102 flights = 80% flown LF
Anna_list, thanks for the figures.
LDY - ALC started on March 29th, so between that date and the end of August is 22.5 weeks which multuiplied by four (two return flights per week) equals 88 so if 82 flights were flown then the other six must be the volcano.
76% loading isn't great particularly if the average FR loading is 84%, but yields on continental routes are supposedly better than on domestic routes so is the route under threat or not? July and August's loads were OK, so is a shorter season next year a possibility or does the increased overhead of the empty flights at the beginning and end of the season divided over a shorter season outweight the lower loads on a longer season. Or more importantly, at what load factor is the flight still profitable or at least not losing money?
(The statistics from the aena.es website are more user friendly than from the caa.co.uk website, presupposing you can read Spanish)