Air Canada Reports Record August Load Factor

MONTREAL, Sept. 6, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - For the month of August, Air Canada reported a record system load factor of 87.9 per cent, versus 87.8 per cent in August 2011, an increase of 0.1 percentage points.  System traffic increased 0.7 per cent on a system-wide capacity increase of 0.6 per cent. Air Canada reports traffic results on a system-wide basis, including regional airlines from which Air Canada purchases capacity.

"For the month of August, Air Canada reported an all-time record load factor of 87.9 per cent," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer.  "This record load factor result for the month underscores our disciplined capacity management and our industry-leading product that continues to earn our customers' loyalty. Led by increases in traffic in the Australia, Caribbean, Mexico and Central and South America markets of 7.9 per cent overall, and the domestic Canada market of 3 per cent, we generated system wide traffic growth of 0.7 per cent on a capacity increase of 0.6 per cent.  I thank our employees for their hard work taking care of customers while transporting them safely to their destinations during this peak travel period of the year."


  August Year-To-Date
  2012 2011 Change 2012 2011 Change
Traffic (RPMs mln) 5,727 5,685 +0.7% 38,087 37,324 +2.0%
Capacity (ASMs mln) 6,513 6,473 +0.6% 45,917 45,333 +1.3%
Load Factor 87.9% 87.8% +0.1 pts 82.9% 82.3% +0.6 pts
               
Canada RPMs 1,816 1,763 +3.0% 11,115 10,846 +2.5%
ASMs 2,077 2,046 +1.5% 13,490 13,319 +1.3%
LF 87.4% 86.2% +1.2 pts 82.4% 81.4% +1.0 pts
               
US
Transborder
RPMs 794 781 +1.7% 6,199 6,036 +2.7%
ASMs 961 951 +1.1% 7,855 7,631 +2.9%
LF 82.6% 82.1% +0.5 pts 78.9% 79.1% -0.2 pts
               
Atlantic RPMs 1,664 1,729 -3.8% 9,517 9,431 +0.9%
ASMs 1,881 1,921 -2.1% 11,499 11,485 +0.1%
LF 88.5% 90.0% -1.5 pts 82.8% 82.1% +0.7 pts
               
Pacific RPMs 950 946 +0.4% 6,751 6,574 +2.7%
ASMs 1,019 1,016 +0.3% 7,631 7,491 +1.9%
LF 93.2% 93.1% +0.1 pts 88.5% 87.8% +0.7 pts
               
Other* RPMs 503 466 +7.9% 4,505 4,437 +1.5%
ASMs 575 539 +6.7% 5,442 5,407 +0.6%
LF 87.5% 86.5% +1.0 pts 82.8% 82.1% +0.7 pts

* Includes Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 175 destinations on five continents.  Canada's flag carrier is the 15th largest commercial airline in the world and in 2011 served more than 33 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 59 Canadian cities, 56 destinations in the United States and 63 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America.  Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,356 destinations in 193 countries. In 2012, Air Canada was ranked Best International Airline in North America in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers conducted by independent research firm Skytrax.

SOURCE: AIR CANADA

For further information:

Isabelle Arthur (Montréal)  514 422-5788
Peter Fitzpatrick (Toronto)  416 263-5576
Angela Mah (Vancouver)  604 270-5741

Internet:  aircanada.com