Air Canada Reports March Load Factor

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Apr 04, 2012, 04:11 ET

MONTREAL, April 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - For the month of March, Air Canada reported a system load factor of 81.5 per cent, versus 79.5 per cent in March 2011, an increase of 2.0 percentage points. System traffic increased 4.8 per cent on a system-wide capacity increase of 2.2 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 March, Air Canada reported a system load factor of 81.5 per cent, an increase of two percentage points from the previous year," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Led by an increase in traffic in the Atlantic market of 10.2 per cent, we generated greater traffic in all markets Air Canada serves, with system wide growth of 4.8 per cent on a capacity increase of 2.2 per cent through higher utilization of our existing fleet. I thank our customers for their ongoing loyalty to Air Canada, something which we do not take for granted. I also thank those employees who have worked doubly hard to take care of our customers during this busy travel period marked by a range of operational challenges."

		March			Q1
		2012	2011	Change	2012	2011	Change
Traffic (RPMs mln)		4,621	4,411	+4.8%	12,946	12,355	+4.8%
Capacity (ASMs mln)		5,668	5,546	+2.2%	16,344	15,859	+3.1%
Load Factor		81.5%	79.5%	+2.0 pts	79.2%	77.9%	+1.3 pts

Canada	RPMs	1,220	1,212	+0.7%	3,539	3,408	+3.8%
	ASMs	1,495	1,515	-1.3%	4,419	4,333	+2.0%
	LF	81.6%	80.0%	+1.6 pts	80.1%	78.7%	+1.4 pts

US Transborder	RPMs	924	873	+5.8%	2,538	2,367	+7.2%
	ASMs	1,135	1,087	+4.4%	3,235	3,048	+6.1%
	LF	81.4%	80.3%	+1.1 pts	78.5%	77.7%	+0.8 pts

Atlantic	RPMs	951	863	+10.2%	2,422	2,287	+5.9%
	ASMs	1,193	1,143	+4.4%	3,334	3,227	+3.3%
	LF	79.7%	75.5%	+4.2 pts	72.6%	70.9%	+1.7 pts

Pacific	RPMs	799	771	+3.6%	2,285	2,207	+3.5%
	ASMs	940	926	+1.5%	2,713	2,652	+2.3%
	LF	85.0%	83.3%	+1.7pts	84.2%	83.2%	+1.0 pts

Other*	RPMs	727	692	+5.1%	2,162	2,086	+3.6%
	ASMs	905	875	+3.4%	2,643	2,599	+1.7%
	LF	80.3%	79.1%	+1.2 pts	81.8%	80.3%	+1.5 pts

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

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 180 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 60 Canadian cities, 57 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 1,290 destinations in 189 countries. In 2011, 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.