MONTREAL, Feb. 5, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - For the month of January, Air Canada reported a record system load factor of 80.0 per cent, versus 79.4 per cent in January 2013, an increase of 0.6 percentage points on a system-wide capacity increase of 3.0 per cent.  On this additional capacity, system traffic for January increased 3.7 per cent.  Air Canada reports traffic results on a system-wide basis, including Air Canada rouge^TM, which began operations on July 1, 2013, and regional airlines from which Air Canada purchases capacity.

"I am pleased to report a record load factor of 80 per cent for the month of January," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer.  "Air Canada generated greater traffic for the month of January in all markets the airline serves with system wide growth of 3.7 per cent on a capacity increase of 3 per cent, led by increases in traffic in Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. transborder markets.  I would like to thank our employees for their hard work taking care of customers while transporting them safely to their destinations despite the challenges of severe winter weather during the month at our Canadian hubs."

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 175 destinations on five continents. Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2013 served more than 35 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 60 Canadian cities, 49 destinations in the United States and 67 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 1,328 destinations in 195 countries. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax that ranked Air Canada in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers as Best Airline in North America in 2013 for the fourth consecutive year. For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com.

SOURCE Air Canada