In August the load factor reached 84.2%, with a 0.2% increase in capacity and a 1.5% drop in traffic -measured in revenue passenger kilometre (RPK)-.
Madrid – The average stage length rose by 15.9% mainly due to the growing weight of long haul traffic which represented 62.5% of total RPK (2.4 points more than in 2007).
In the long haul, the load factor stood at 87.6% and traffic went up 2.5%, with a 3.8% growth in capacity -measured in available seat kilometre (ASK)-. North Atlantic traffic rose by 5.8% and capacity increased by 4.7%, leading to a load factor of 91.4%, one point above the previous year. In the Mid Atlantic, traffic and capacity increased by 2.2% and 3.0% respectively, and the load factor reached 87.6%. South Atlantic RPK rose 1.7%, with a 4.8% increase in capacity and a load factor of 85.4%.
Europe maintained the trend of June and July. Capacity and traffic went up 5.8% and 5.7% respectively, and the load factor was stable at 82%, while the average stage length grew by 5.8%. In Africa and the Middle East capacity increased by 4.7% and the load factor stood at 80.4%. The company continued to reinforce the connections of its main hub, where international medium haul traffic went up 16.7%, with a capacity increase of 17.2%.
Following the strategy of revising and optimising the network, domestic capacity fell by 20.3%. The load factor stood at 73.9%, decreasing by 5.8 points. Nevertheless, revenue per ASK rose for the fifth consecutive month, thanks to the significant increase in yields.
Photo: Iberia