Airlines

WestJet, Porter report strong December numbers

WestJet has announced December traffic results with a record load factor of 81.9%. Revenue passenger miles (RPMs), or traffic, increased 7.2% year over year, and capacity, measured in available seat miles (ASMs), grew 6% over the same period. The airline flew 17.4 million guests in all of 2012, which is a year-over-year increase of 8.6% or approximately 1,383,000 additional guests. “We are very pleased to close out the year with six consecutive monthly load factor records and record high loads in all four quarters. Our positive momentum culminated in 2012 with a new single-day record of flying more than 57,000 guests on Dec. 21,”said WestJet president Gregg Saretsky, adding that forward bookings also look strong. Porter Airlines also wrapped up 2012 on a high, reporting a 64.3% load factor for December, an increase of 0.4% from last year. For the calendar year, Porter carried 2.45 million passengers versus 2.13 million in 2011. This is an increase of 15%. Load factor in 2012 improved 0.3 points to 62% compared to 61.7% the year prior. Figures for December show 121 million Available Seat Miles (ASMs) and 77.8 million Revenue Passenger Miles (RPMs). ASMs grew 2.9% from 117.6 million and RPMs increased 3.5% from 75.2 million last year. “Overall, Porter has finished 2012 by solidifying our gains for passenger numbers and load factor through the year,”said Robert Deluce, president Porter Airlines. (http://www.westjet.com , http://www.flyporter.com)