Air Canada Reports Record January Traffic Results
Good Afternoon All:
The following was taken from a posting on the Air Line Employee Forum.
"Also interesting AC got these numbers out on Feb 3, fast turnaround. I suppose they assume a contrast with WS in particular.
I was amused at a recent story complaining about why AC doesn't can the fuel surcharge. There are technical reasons to be sure - as in what other airlines are doing. It's far easier to raise a surcharge than to try to raise fares once you have lowered them. Raising base fares is like herding cats. That being said, I've rarely seen it cheaper to travel internationally, so AC is filling planes with a lot of cheap traffic, but then again, with these international loads, and larger capacity aircraft, the last 20-50 seats make for incremental revenue that can make the difference between the flight losing or making money. Still, the focus on surcharges is irrelevant to me - the bottom line is that the price paid for overseas travel is cheap even by mid-winter standards. The bottom line is always the bottom line the traveller pays, not how the price paid is divided."
air-canada-reports-record-january-traffic-567574871.html
Traffic increased 7.1 per cent for the month
MONTREAL, Feb. 3, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - For the month of January, Air Canada reported a system-wide capacity increase of 7.1 per cent and a record load factor of 80.1 per cent tying last year's record. On this additional capacity, traffic increased 7.1 per cent. Air Canada reports traffic results on a system-wide basis, including regional airlines from which Air Canada purchases capacity and Air Canada rougeŽ.
"I am pleased to report a record load factor of 80.1 per cent for the month of January," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer. "In January, Air Canada generated greater traffic in all markets served led by Atlantic, Pacific, Latin American and Caribbean markets in which we also achieved increases in load factors from the previous year. These strong results underscore the effectiveness of our commercial strategy with its focus on international growth, aggressive expansion of Air Canada rouge in leisure markets, focus on sixth freedom traffic to feed Canadian hubs, Boeing 777 aircraft seat densification, introduction of a Premium Economy product, A++ Joint Venture with Star Alliance partners and regional airline diversification. This strategy along with the transformative changes we have made in recent years provide us with the cost structure, fleet and flexibility to respond not only to competitive market conditions, but also to fluctuations in the Canadian dollar and economic downturns. We have a proven track record of proactively and effectively managing capacity to meet demand and we will continue to adjust capacity to maximize profitability. I would like to thank our customers for choosing Air Canada as their preferred carrier and our employees for taking care of them while transporting them safely to their destination."
January
2016
2015
Change
Traffic (RPMs mln)
5,258
4,910
+7.1%
Capacity (ASMs mln)
6,566
6,132
+7.1%
Load Factor
80.1%
80.1%
0.0 pts
Canada
RPMs
1,267
1,263
+0.3%
ASMs
1,645
1,584
+3.9%
LF
77.0%
79.7%
-2.7 pts
US Transborder
RPMs
1,018
977
+4.2%
ASMs
1,363
1,241
+9.8%
LF
74.6%
78.7%
-4.1 pts
Atlantic
RPMs
1,143
999
+14.4%
ASMs
1,445
1,286
+12.4%
LF
79.1%
77.7%
+1.4 pts
Pacific
RPMs
1,095
991
+10.5%
ASMs
1,267
1,226
+3.3%
LF
86.4%
80.9%
+5.5 pts
Latin America & Caribbean
RPMs
735
680
+8.1%
ASMs
846
795
+6.4%
LF
86.8%
85.6%
+1.2 pts