Air Canada Reports December and Full Year Load Factor

MONTREAL, Jan. 6, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ – For the month of December 2014, Air Canada reported a near record system load factor of 82.6 per cent, its second highest system load factor ever on a system-wide capacity increase of 8.5 per cent, versus a load factor of 82.7 per cent in December 2013. On this additional capacity, system wide traffic for December increased 8.3 per cent. For the full year 2014, load factor was a record 83.4 per cent, versus 82.8 per cent in 2013, an increase 0.6 percentage points. Air Canada reports traffic results on a system-wide basis, including Air Canada rougeTM, which began operations on July 1, 2013, and regional airlines from which Air Canada purchases capacity.

“I am pleased to report our highest load factor ever for the full year 2014 and second highest for the month of December on continued strong traffic growth of 8.5 and 8.3 per cent, respectively,” said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Led by an increase in traffic in the U.S. transborder market of 16.2 per cent, Air Canada generated greater traffic for the month of December in all markets the airline serves. These strong results, for both the month and full year, underscore the effectiveness of our commercial strategy focusing on international growth and the strategic deployment of Air Canada rouge to compete more effectively in leisure markets. I thank our employees for taking care of our customers while transporting them safely to their destination. Their professionalism and efforts in earning our customers’ loyalty have been recognized by many industry awards, including the selection of Air Canada as the Best Airline in North America by frequent world travellers.”

In 2014, Air Canada was ranked for a fifth consecutive year “Best Airline in North America” in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers conducted by Skytrax. According to the 2014 Canadian Business Travel Survey conducted by Ipsos Reid, Air Canada was the preferred airline of 83 percent of Canadian frequent business travellers. In 2014, readers of Global Traveler magazine again voted Air Canada “Best Airline in North America,” the readers of Business Traveler voted Air Canada “Best North American Airline for International Travel” and “Best North America Airline Inflight Experience,” and the readers of Premier Traveler voted Air Canada “Best Flight Attendants in North America.”

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport Operations

While Air Canada’s traffic and load factor at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport increased in 2014 over the previous year, as part of its continuing cost transformation initiatives, Air Canada is assessing the viability of Billy Bishop operations based on current imposed terminal rates and terms.