Air Canada Reports December and Full Year Load Factor

Record load factor for full year 2015 with traffic increase of 9.6 per cent on capacity increase of 9.4 per cent

MONTREAL, Jan. 7, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - For the month of December, Air Canada reported a system-wide capacity increase of 7.3 per cent and a load factor of 81.6 per cent.  On this additional capacity, traffic increased 6.0 per cent. Air Canada reports traffic results on a system-wide basis, including regional airlines from which Air Canada purchases capacity and Air Canada rouge^®.

"I am pleased to report our highest ever load factor for the full year 2015," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer.  "In December, Air Canada generated greater traffic in all markets served and surpassed previous records for passengers boarded on two occasions during the month, with over 134,000 customers served on December 30^th and over 131,000 on December 18th.  These strong results underscore the effectiveness of our commercial strategy that contributed to Air Canada serving more than 41 million customers in 2015, an all-time record for the airline.  I would like to wish our customers a Happy New Year and thank them for choosing Air Canada as their preferred carrier, and our employees for taking care of them throughout the year."

		December			Q4			Full Year
		2015	2014	Change	2015	2014	Change	2015	2014	Change
Traffic (RPMs mln)		5,288	4,988	+6.0%	15,302	14,090	+8.6%	67,545	61,616	+9.6%
Capacity (ASMs mln)		6,482	6,039	+7.3%	18,869	17,403	+8.4%	80,871	73,889	+9.4%
Load Factor		81.6%	82.6%	-1.0 pts	81.1%	81.0%	+0.1 pts	83.5%	83.4%	+0.1 pts
Canada	RPMs	1,439	1,413	+1.8%	4,291	4,191	+2.4%	18,228	17,662	+3.2%
	ASMs	1,772	1,703	+4.1%	5,222	5,023	+4.0%	21,961	21,225	+3.5%
	LF	81.2%	83.0%	-1.8 pts	82.2%	83.4%	-1.2 pts	83.0%	83.2%	-0.2 pts
US Transborder	RPMs	1,017	953	+6.7%	2,768	2,479	+11.7%	11,754	10,261	+14.6%
	ASMs	1,327	1,216	+9.1%	3,493	3,122	+11.9%	14,300	12,518	+14.2%
	LF	76.6%	78.4%	-1.8 pts	79.2%	79.4%	-0.2 pts	82.2%	82.0%	+0.2 pts
Atlantic	RPMs	1,204	1,067	+12.8%	3,719	3,256	+14.2%	18,312	16,173	+13.2%
	ASMs	1,485	1,259	+18.0%	4,755	4,124	+15.3%	22,092	19,637	+12.5%
	LF	81.1%	84.7%	-3.6 pts	78.2%	79.0%	-0.8 pts	82.9%	82.4%	+0.5 pts
Pacific	RPMs	1,057	1,034	+2.2%	3,202	2,967	+7.9%	13,537	12,376	+9.4%
	ASMs	1,216	1,231	-1.2%	3,773	3,649	+3.4%	15,712	14,397	+9.1%
	LF	86.9%	84.0%	+2.9 pts	84.9%	81.3%	+3.6 pts	86.2%	86.0%	+0.2 pts
Latin America & Caribbean	RPMs	571	521	+9.6%	1,322	1,197	+10.4%	5,714	5,144	+11.1%
	ASMs	682	630	+8.3%	1,626	1,485	+9.5%	6,806	6,112	+11.4%
	LF	83.7%	82.7%	+1.0 pts	81.3%	80.6%	+0.7 pts	84.0%	84.2%	-0.2 pts

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 200 airports on six continents.  Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2015 served more than 41 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 63 airports in Canada, 52 in the United States and 86 in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America 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.  For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

SOURCE Air Canada

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