Air Canada Reports Record August Load Factor, All-Time Record for Any Month in Corporation's History

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Sep 04, 2014, 04:58 ET

Traffic increased 10.8 per cent on capacity increase of 10.4 per cent

MONTREAL, Sept. 4, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - For the month of August, Air Canada reported a record system load factor of 89.8 per cent, versus 89.5 per cent in August 2013, an all-time record for any month in the Corporation's history, representing an increase of 0.3 percentage points on a system-wide capacity increase of 10.4 per cent. On this additional capacity, system wide traffic for August increased 10.8 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 extremely pleased to report a record load factor of 89.8 per cent for the month of August during which we served more than four million customers, more than in any month in Air Canada's 77-year history," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Air Canada generated greater traffic for the month of August in all markets served with system wide growth of 10.8 per cent on a capacity increase of 10.4 per cent year over year, led by significant increases in traffic in Atlantic and U.S. transborder markets. This is the fifth consecutive month Air Canada has set new records for system-wide passenger load factor. These strong traffic results demonstrate that we continue to effectively execute both our international growth plan and Air Canada rouge leisure strategy. I would like to thank our customers and travel trade partners for choosing Air Canada in such strong numbers, and our employees for their continued focus on taking good care of our customers and transporting them safely to their destination during this peak travel season."

		August			Year to Date
		2014	2013	Change	2014	2013	Change
Traffic (RPMs mln)		6,645	5,995	+10.8%	41,980	38,830	+8.1%
Capacity (ASMs mln)		7,398	6,700	+10.4%	49,939	46,440	+7.5%
Load Factor		89.8%	89.5%	+0.3 pts	84.1%	83.6%	+0.5 pts

Canada	RPMs	1,964	1,852	+6.0%	11,884	11,362	+4.6%
	ASMs	2,210	2,111	+4.7%	14,264	13,705	+4.1%
	LF	88.9%	87.7%	+1.2 pts	83.3%	82.9%	+0.4 pts

US Transborder	RPMs	928	802	+15.7%	7,043	6,277	+12.2%
	ASMs	1,072	942	+13.8%	8,466	7,809	+8.4%
	LF	86.6%	85.1%	+1.5 pts	83.2%	80.4%	+2.8 pts

Atlantic	RPMs	2,145	1,760	+21.9%	11,059	9,726	+13.7%
	ASMs	2,361	1,911	+23.5%	13,440	11,536	+16.5%
	LF	90.9%	92.1%	-1.2 pts	82.3%	84.3%	-2.0 pts

Pacific	RPMs	1,206	1,199	+0.6%	8,323	8,049	+3.4%
	ASMs	1,310	1,301	+0.7%	9,483	9,263	+2.4%
	LF	92.1%	92.2%	-0.1 pts	87.8%	86.9%	+0.9 pts

Latin America & Caribbean	RPMs	402	382	+5.2%	3,671	3,416	+7.5%
	ASMs	445	435	+2.3%	4,286	4,127	+3.9%
	LF	90.3%	87.8%	+2.5 pts	85.7%	82.8%	+2.9 pts

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 180 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 73 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 1,316 airports in 192 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 2014 for the fifth consecutive year. For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com.