Air Canada Reports Record October Load Factor

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Nov 05, 2012, 16:00 ET

MONTREAL, Nov. 5, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - For the month of October, Air Canada reported a record system load factor of 82.9 per cent, versus 79.4 per cent in October 2011, an increase of 3.5 percentage points. System traffic increased 4.9 per cent on a system-wide capacity increase of 0.4 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 October, Air Canada reported a record load factor of 82.9 per cent, an increase of 3.5 percentage points from the previous year," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer. "This record load factor for the month and strong traffic results overall underscore the effectiveness of our ongoing disciplined approach to managing capacity and our award-winning product that continues to earn customers' loyalty. Led by increases in traffic on Atlantic, Pacific and domestic Canada routes of 7.1, 6.8 and 5.0 per cent, respectively, system traffic grew 4.9 per cent while overall capacity increased 0.4 per cent. I thank our employees whose professionalism and dedication was brought to bear in taking care of our customers and transporting them safely to their destinations during the recent severe weather conditions in the U.S. northeast."


		October			Year-To-Date
		2012	2011	Change	2012	2011	Change
Traffic (RPMs mln)		4,500	4,290	+4.9%	47,572	46,449	+2.4%
Capacity (ASMs mln)		5,425	5,405	+0.4%	57,210	56,575	+1.1%
Load Factor		82.9%	79.4%	+3.5 pts	83.2%	82.1%	+1.1 pts

Canada	RPMs	1,373	1,308	+5.0%	13,945	13,570	+2.8%
	ASMs	1,650	1,622	+1.7%	16,917	16,700	+1.3%
	LF	83.2%	80.6%	+2.6 pts	82.4%	81.3%	+1.1 pts

US Transborder	RPMs	653	634	+3.0%	7,511	7,304	+2.8%
	ASMs	831	833	-0.2%	9,544	9,302	+2.6%
	LF	78.6%	76.1%	+2.5 pts	78.7%	78.5%	+0.2 pts

Atlantic	RPMs	1,177	1,099	+7.1%	12,291	12,087	+1.7%
	ASMs	1,445	1,444	+0.1%	14,706	14,704	0.0%
	LF	81.5%	76.1%	+5.4 pts	83.6%	82.2%	+1.4 pts

Pacific	RPMs	898	841	+6.8%	8,508	8,260	+3.0%
	ASMs	981	989	-0.8%	9,586	9,465	+1.3%
	LF	91.5%	85.0%	+6.5 pts	88.8%	87.3%	+1.5 pts

Other*	RPMs	399	408	-2.2%	5,317	5,228	+1.7%
	ASMs	518	517	+0.2%	6,457	6,404	+0.8%
	LF	77.0%	78.9%	-1.9 pts	82.3%	81.6%	+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.