Air Canada Reports Record June Load Factor

MONTREAL, July 5, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - For the month of June, Air Canada reported a record system load factor of 85.6 per cent, versus 84.2 per cent in June 2011, an increase of 1.4 percentage points. System traffic increased 1.5 per cent on a system-wide capacity decrease of 0.1 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 June, Air Canada reported a record load factor of 85.6 per cent. Traffic grew 1.5 per cent during the month, led by the Atlantic and trans-border markets. This record load factor result for the month also demonstrates the effectiveness of our strategy to manage capacity to ensure high efficiency," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer. "I thank our employees for their hard work taking care of our customers while transporting them safely to their destinations."

		June			Q2			Year-To-Date
		2012	2011	Change	2012^(1)	2011	Change	2012^(1)	2011	Change
Traffic (RPMs mln)		4,985	4,911	+1.5%	13,868	13,677	+1.4%	26,814	26,032	+3.0%
Capacity (ASMs mln)		5,823	5,830	-0.1%	16,606	16,512	+0.6%	32,950	32,371	+1.8%
Load Factor		85.6%	84.2%	+1.4 pts	83.5%	82.8%	+0.7 pts	81.4%	80.4%	+1.0 pts
Canada	RPMs	1,463	1,443	+1.4%	4,049	3,983	+1.7%	7,588	7,392	+2.7%
	ASMs	1,780	1,782	-0.1%	4,957	4,904	+1.1%	9,376	9,237	+1.5%
	LF	82.2%	81.0%	+1.2 pts	81.7%	81.2%	+0.5 pts	80.9%	80.0%	+0.9 pts
US Transborder	RPMs	681	670	+1.6%	2,104	2,120	-0.8%	4,642	4,487	+3.5%
	ASMs	860	847	+1.5%	2,707	2,686	+0.8%	5,942	5,734	+3.6%
	LF	79.2%	79.1%	+0.1 pts	77.7%	78.9%	- 1.2 pts	78.1%	78.3%	- 0.2 pts
Atlantic	RPMs	1,538	1,501	+2.5%	3,786	3,695	+2.5%	6,208	5,982	+3.8%
	ASMs	1,724	1,739	-0.9%	4,405	4,415	-0.2%	7,739	7,641	+1.3%
	LF	89.2%	86.3%	+2.9 pts	85.9%	83.7%	+2.2 pts	80.2%	78.3%	+1.9 pts
Pacific	RPMs	891	884	+0.8%	2,592	2,493	+4.0%	4,877	4,701	+3.7%
	ASMs	958	955	+0.3%	2,888	2,804	+3.0%	5,601	5,457	+2.6%
	LF	93.0%	92.6%	+0.4 pts	89.8%	88.9%	+0.9 pts	87.1%	86.1%	+1.0 pts
Other*	RPMs	412	413	-02%	1,337	1,386	-3.5%	3,499	3,470	+0.8%
	ASMs	501	507	-1.2%	1,649	1,703	-3.2%	4,292	4,302	-0.2%
	LF	82.2%	81.5%	+0.7 pts	81.1%	81.4%	- 0.3pts	81.5%	80.7%	+0.8 pts

* Includes Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America

⁽¹⁾ Year-to date 2012 and Q2 2012 results reported include an adjustment to May 2012 figures previously reported in Air Canada's June 6, 2012 traffic news release. In that release, as a result of a system modification, May 2012 traffic results were overstated by 0.2 percentage points for system traffic growth, 0.3 percentage points for system capacity growth and system load factor was 81.7% versus 81.6% previously reported.

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 1,356 destinations in 193 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.

 

Contacts:

Isabelle Arthur (Montréal)  514 422-5788
Peter Fitzpatrick (Toronto)  416 263-5576
Angela Mah (Vancouver)  604 270-5741

Internet:  aircanada.com