Airlines & Routes

easyJet carried 23.7% more passengers in August 2008 and the load factor for the month was up 4 pts compared to the same period in 2007, to 91.3%.

Republic Airways Holdings reported preliminary passenger traffic results for August 2008. Traffic increased 8.2% over the same month last year, while capacity increased 10.8%. The load factor decreased to 76.8% versus 78.7% in August 2007.

United Airlines reported its preliminary traffic results for August 2008. The company reported an August passenger load factor of 84.5%, down 1.8 pts compared to August 2007. Traffic decreased in August by 5.1%, on a capacity decrease of 3.1% compared with the same period in 2007.

WestJet released August traffic statistics, announcing a 12-year record-high load factor of 88.4%. This was accompanied by a 22.4% increase in traffic and a 21.9% capacity increase.

US Airways Group reported August 2008 traffic results. Mainline traffic for the month was down 0.5% from August 2007, capacity was down 1.3% versus August 2007 and the load factor for the month was a record 85.8%, up 0.7 points versus August 2007.

Continental Airlines reported an August consolidated (mainline plus regional) load factor of 83.9%, 1.4 points below the August 2007 consolidated load factor. Consolidated traffic increase 0.7% and capacity increased 2.4% as compared to August 2007.

BA released that In August 2008, passenger capacity was 1.9% above August 2007 snf traffic fell by 1.6%. This resulted in a passenger load factor decrease of 2.7 points versus last year, to 77.3%.

Finnair begins scheduled passenger flights from Helsinki to Yekaterinburg on 2 September. The destination is served three times weekly with Airbus A319 aircraft. Yekaterinburg is Finnair’s third scheduled destination in Russia, after Moscow and St. Petersburg. Finnair operates the route in cooperation with Ural Airlines.

Kingfisher Airlines released that it would launch international service from India with the debut of daily non-stop flights between Bangalore and London-Heathrow on September 3, 2008.

US Airways continues its international expansion as the airline applies to operate year-round service between its hub in Philadelphia and Tel Aviv, Israel. Linking the two sister cities with a daily nonstop flight, the service is set to begin in July 2009 and is subject to both U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Israeli government