Air Canada Reports December and Full Year Load Factor

  • Record Load Factor for Full Year 2014 with traffic increase of 8.5 per cent on capacity increase of 7.8 per cent
  • Provides comment on Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport operations

 

MONTREAL, Jan. 6, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - For the month of December 2014, Air Canada reported a near record system load factor of 82.6 per cent, its second highest system load factor ever on a system-wide capacity increase of 8.5 per cent, versus a load factor of 82.7 per cent in December 2013. On this additional capacity, system wide traffic for December increased 8.3 per cent. For the full year 2014, load factor was a record 83.4 per cent, versus 82.8 per cent in 2013, an increase 0.6 percentage points. Air Canada reports traffic results on a system-wide basis, including Air Canada rougeTM, which began operations on July 1, 2013, and regional airlines from which Air Canada purchases capacity.

"I am pleased to report our highest load factor ever for the full year 2014 and second highest for the month of December on continued strong traffic growth of 8.5 and 8.3 per cent, respectively," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer.  "Led by an increase in traffic in the U.S. transborder market of 16.2 per cent, Air Canada generated greater traffic for the month of December in all markets the airline serves.  These strong results, for both the month and full year, underscore the effectiveness of our commercial strategy focusing on international growth and the strategic deployment of Air Canada rouge to compete more effectively in leisure markets. I thank our employees for taking care of our customers while transporting them safely to their destination.  Their professionalism and efforts in earning our customers' loyalty have been recognized by many industry awards, including the selection of Air Canada as the Best Airline in North America by frequent world travellers."

In 2014, Air Canada was ranked for a fifth consecutive year "Best Airline in North America" in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers conducted by Skytrax.  According to the 2014 Canadian Business Travel Survey conducted by Ipsos Reid, Air Canada was the preferred airline of 83 percent of Canadian frequent business travellers.  In 2014, readers of Global Traveler magazine again voted Air Canada "Best Airline in North America," the readers of Business Traveler voted Air Canada "Best North American Airline for International Travel" and "Best North America Airline Inflight Experience," and the readers of Premier Traveler voted Air Canada "Best Flight Attendants in North America."

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport Operations

While Air Canada's traffic and load factor at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport increased in 2014 over the previous year, as part of its continuing cost transformation initiatives, Air Canada is assessing the viability of Billy Bishop operations based on current imposed terminal rates and terms.


December

Q4

Year-To-Date


2014

2013

Change

2014

2013

Change

2014

2013

Change

Traffic (RPMs mln)

4,988

4,604

+8.3%

14,090

12,883

+9.4%

61,615

56,791

+8.5%

Capacity (ASMs mln)

6,039

5,565

+8.5%

17,403

16,034

+8.5%

73,888

68,572

+7.8%

Load Factor

82.6%

82.7%

-0.1 pts

81.0%

80.3%

+0.7 pts

83.4%

82.8%

+0.6 pts












Canada

RPMs

1,413

1,331

+6.2%

4,191

3,933

+6.6%

17,662

16,779

+5.3%

ASMs

1,703

1,615

+5.4%

5,023

4,736

+6.1%

21,225

20,261

+4.8%

LF

83.0%

82.4%

+0.6 pts

83.4%

83.0%

+0.4 pts

83.2%

82.8%

+0.4 pts












US Transborder

RPMs

953

820

+16.2%

2,479

2,147

+15.5%

10,261

9,073

+13.1%

ASMs

1,216

1,043

+16.6%

3,122

2,741

+13.9%

12,518

11,398

+9.8%

LF

78.4%

78.6%

-0.2 pts

79.4%

78.3%

+1.1 pts

82.0%

79.6%

+2.4 pts












Atlantic

RPMs

1,067

979

+9.0%

3,256

2,886

+12.8%

16,173

14,238

+13.6%

ASMs

1,259

1,191

+5.7%

4,124

3,794

+8.7%

19,637

17,187

+14.3%

LF

84.7%

82.2%

+2.5 pts

79.0%

76.1%

+2.9 pts

82.4%

82.8%

-0.4 pts












Pacific

RPMs

1,034

974

+6.2%

2,967

2,756

+7.7%

12,376

11,834

+4.6%

ASMs

1,231

1,128

+9.1%

3,649

3,332

+9.5%

14,397

13,809

+4.3%

LF

84.0%

86.3%

-2.3 pts

81.3%

82.7%

-1.4 pts

86.0%

85.7%

+0.3 pts












Latin America & Caribbean

RPMs

521

500

+4.2%

1,197

1,161

+3.1%

5,143

4,867

+5.7%

ASMs

630

588

+7.1%

1,485

1,431

+3.8%

6,111

5,917

+3.3%

LF

82.7%

85.0%

-2.3 pts

80.6%

81.1%

-0.5 pts

84.2%

82.3%

+1.9 pts

 

The calculation of passenger load factor is based on whole figures and not on rounded million.

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 61 Canadian cities, 50 destinations in the United States and 77 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 1,321 airports in 193 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.

 

SOURCE Air Canada - Corporate - Finance

For further information: Isabelle Arthur (Montréal), 514 422-5788; Peter Fitzpatrick (Toronto), 416 263-5576; Angela Mah (Vancouver), 604 270-5741; Internet : aircanada.com