Airlines & Routes

WestJet announced May traffic results with a load factor of 74.1%. Traffic declined 5.8%, while capacity grew 1.2% over the same period.

US Airways Group reported May 2009 traffic results. Mainline traffic was down 5.2% versus May 2008, while capacity was down 5.8% versus May 2008. Passenger load factor for the month of May was a record 82.8%, up 0.5 points versus May 2008.

Alaska reported a decrease in load factor to 76.8% in May 2009, compared to 77.8% in May 2008, on a 6.3% decline in capacity compared to the prior-year period. Traffic for the month decreased 7.5% compared to May 2008. Horizon reported a decrease in load factor to 71.7% in May 2009, compared to 73.6% in

Continental Airlines reported a May consolidated load factor of 80.9%, 0.3 points below the May 2008 consolidated load factor, while traffic decreased 9.0% and capacity decrease 8.8% compared to May 2008.

Virgin Atlantic and Japan

Air Berlin is expanding its route network and will be flying to Israel for the first time this summer. From 7th July 2009 onwards, Air Berlin passengers will have a choice of two non-stop flights a week from Berlin to Tel Aviv. There will also be feeder flights from various German cities.

In April, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair reported an increase in traffic of 8.8% compared to the same month in 2008 – while the load factor rose by 3.2 percentage points to 82.6%. Capacity for the month rose by 1.1%.

In April 2009, Air France/KLM recorded a 3.4% reduction in capacity with a 2.8% decline in traffic. The load factor stood at the high level of 80.5%, up 0.6 points. The group carried 6.2 million passengers (-3.7%).

In April 2009, BA’s passenger capacity was 2.4% below April 2008, traffic rose by 0.9%. This resulted in a passenger load factor increase of 2.6 points versus last year, to 78.1%.

Finnair’s scheduled passenger traffic declined by 5.7% from the previous year. At the same time, capacity was cut by 9.4% which improved passenger load factor by 2.8 percentage points to 71.2%.