MONTREAL, March 5, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - For the month of February, Air Canada reported a system load factor of 76.8 per cent, versus 75.9 per cent in February 2011, an increase of 0.9 percentage points.  System traffic increased 6.5 per cent on a system-wide capacity increase of 5.3 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 February, Air Canada reported a system load factor of 76.8 per cent, an increase from the previous year," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer.  "Led by an increase in traffic in the U.S. transborder market of 10.7 per cent, we generated greater traffic in all markets Air Canada serves with system wide growth of 6.5 per cent on a capacity increase of 5.3 per cent through higher utilization of our existing fleet.  These solid results underscore our disciplined capacity management combined with our industry-leading product.  I want to thank our employees for taking care of customers and continuing to earn their loyalty during a month of challenging winter operations."

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.