Airlines
Lufthansa gains, a group effort
Business is good these days for the Lufthansa Group -- which includes Lufthansa German Airlines, SWISS and Austrian Airlines. During the first half of 2012, the group saw its passenger traffic grow by 3.9% to a total of 49.4 million passengers. And all of the carriers in the group were able to sell more passenger seat kilometres than were additionally offered in the first six months, thus raising the average seat load factor of their aircraft. The seat load factor rose group-wide by one percentage point to 76.9%. Capacity was increased by 2.3%; sales were up by 3.8%. Lufthansa German Airlines...
WestJet earns spot in top 10
WestJet has been selected by Aviation Week as a top 10 international airline. The study ranks airline carriers across the world by their annual revenues, using financial and operational data to rate publicly traded airlines in five different performance categories. WestJet is the only Canadian airline and one of only two North American airlines to appear on this year's list. Gregg Saretsky, president and CEO of WestJet, said: "We are elated that our airline is ranked in the top 10 in the world. WestJetters across our network strive to provide an exceptional guest experience, and this study is...
New flights from Canada to Spain
SATA Internacional Airlines of Portugal has added more destinations in Spain to its network through its code-share agreement with fellow Portuguese carrier TAP. In addition to cities now served - such as Madrid, Barcelona and Malaga - Valencia, Bilbao and Seville are also now available through SATA's Toronto-Lisbon service. Some Spanish destinations are also available through SATA's Toronto-Porto service. The Canary Islands destination of Las Palmas is also available via Ponta Delgada in the Azores. Canary Islands flights are operated by SATA....
UK-Asia links growing
A host of strategic issues that included UK border issues, inward investment for the UK, Heathrow airport, crisis response, the 2012 Olympic impact and the UK's controversial Air Passenger Duty (APD) were on the agent when the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) hosted its PATA Hub City Forum, at the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall in London late last week. In welcoming delegates to the event, the UK's Minister for Trade and Investment Lord Green said: "The Asia Pacific region is a vibrant and dynamic one with many burgeoning economies and a vital source of investment, business and...
Lufhansa has an app for that
With Lufthansa's new SceneSpotter app -- http://apps.facebook.com/scenespotter -- travellers can now explore Europe off the beaten path. Locals and insiders offer personal travel tips on Lufthansa's 20 European destinations via the SceneSpotter app on Facebook. It provides travellers in Europe information about interesting sights, culinary highlights and nightlife hotspots that can not be found in any travel guide. Users can plan their trip and share their itineraries with friends on Facebook. They can also quickly and easily add their own personal tips or recommend existing tips to other...
Record loads for AC
Air Canada posted a record system load factor of 85.6% in June-- compared to 84.2% in June 2011 -- an increase of 1.4%. System traffic increased 1.5% on a system-wide capacity decrease of 0.1%. Calin Rovinescu, president and CEO, commented: "For the month of June, Air Canada reported a record load factor of 85.6%. Traffic grew 1.5% during the month, led by the Atlantic and trans-border markets. This record load factor result for the month also demonstrates the effectiveness of our strategy to manage capacity to ensure high efficiency." Go to http://www.aircanada.com for...
Strong June for WestJet
WestJet posted a 79% load factor for June 2012. The carrier's revenue passenger miles (RPMs), or traffic, increased 6.7% year over year, and capacity, measured in available seat miles (ASMs), grew 2.3% over the same period. The carrier achieved a second quarter record load factor of 81.6% and flew nearly 4.27 million guests in the quarter; an increase of 326,000 guests year over year. WestJet president and CEO, Gregg Saretsky commented: "The strong June traffic results and the record second quarter load factor are evidence that guests are continuing to choose WestJet in record numbers....
Porter posts solid results
Porter Airlines registered a 62% load factor in June. Passenger numbers, ASMs (Available Seat Miles) and RPMs (Revenue Passenger Miles) all set new records for the month. Close to 212,000 passengers travelled in June, 4.2% more than last year. Figures for the month show 126.5 million ASMs and 78.4 million RPMs. ASMs grew 8.5% from 116.6 million and RPMs increased 4.1% from 75.3 million last year. Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines, said: "Numbers for June, although slightly less than in 2011, met our expectations, especially considering the fact that a strike at one of our...