WestJet reports June load factor of 77.4 per cent

CALGARY, July 7, 2014 /CNW/ – WestJet today announced June 2014 traffic results with a load factor of 77.4 per cent, an increase of 0.6 percentage points year over year. Revenue passenger miles (RPMs), or traffic, increased 5.0 per cent year over year, and capacity, measured in available seat miles (ASMs), was 4.3 per cent higher over the same period. WestJet achieved an on-time performance rate of 85.6 per cent in June, an improvement of 5.0 percentage points year over year. In the second quarter of 2014, the airline achieved a load factor of 79.6 per cent and flew nearly 4.8 million guests, a year-over-year increase of 6.2 per cent or approximately 280,000 additional guests.

“We are very pleased to report strong year over year traffic growth in June, a month in which we set a new single-day record, flying 63,756 guests on Friday, June 27, and successfully launched our first transatlantic service to Dublin, Ireland,” said WestJet President and CEO Gregg Saretsky. “As we transition into our busy summer season, I want to thank WestJetters for their commitment to providing a remarkable experience for our growing number of guests.”

In June WestJet Encore celebrated its first birthday and began operations in eastern Canada with flights between Thunder Bay, and Toronto, Ontario. Since WestJet Encore took to the skies on June 24, 2013, it has added 12 destinations to the original six, which included Calgary, Alberta, Fort St. John, Nanaimo, Vancouver, and Victoria, British Columbia and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The WestJet Encore fleet of Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft has grown from two to 13 at the end of June.