São Paulo, April 15, 2013 – GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. (BM&FBOVESPA: GOLL4 e NYSE: GOL), (S&P: B, Fitch: B-, Moody’s: B3), the largest low-cost and low-fare airline in Latin America, hereby announces its preliminary air traffic figures for March 2013.
PRASK, Yield and Fuel Prices
Net passenger income per available seat-kilometer (PRASK) increased 16% over March 2012*. PRASK increased approximately 12% in 1Q13. GOL’s strategy of reducing capacity has been in place for a year and this is the fifth month of consecutive double-digit PRASK increases.
Net yield for the month was up 17% over the same period in 2012*, to between R$21.5 and 22.0 centavos. Net yield increased approximately 13% in 1Q13 when compared to 1Q12.
Fuel prices in March were up 11%** year-on-year. In 1Q13, Fuel Prices increased approximately 13% over 1Q12, to between R$2.40 and R$2.45.
- 2012 RPK adjusted in accordance with operating data recalculated based on the current DCA Manual. (**) The per-liter fuel price considers total fuel and lubricant expenses divided by period consumption.
Record Number of Passengers
On March 28, the start of the Easter holiday, GOL transported 132,897 passengers, the highest number in a single day since its inception in 2001, surpassing the previous mark of 128,737 passengers in April/2011. This result demonstrates the Company’s focus on increasing its operational efficiency.
Domestic Market
In March, GOL continued its strategy of rationalizing supply and registered a 9.8% reduction in supply on the domestic market due to the end of Webjet’s operations. The slower decline in supply against previous months was due to supply reduction strategy having started in the month of March 2012.
The domestic market load factor showed a slight decline of 0.9 p.p. from March 2012, reaching 65.3% for the period. Due to the supply reduction cited above, demand for the period dropped 11.1% from the previous year.
International Market
International market supply in March increased 38.3% when compared with the same period last year, mainly due to the new daily operations to Santo Domingo, Miami and Orlando, which began operating at the end of 2012. Demand during the same period increased 37.3%, driven by the Easter holiday during the month of March.
The international load factor declined by 0.6 p.p., due to the factor cited above combined with the maturation period of the new routes, which began operating at the end of 2012.