Continental's load factor rises 3.1 points in July

CONTINENTAL Airlines has reported a July consolidated (mainline plus regional) load factor of 87.3 per cent, 3.1 points compared to the same month a year earlier.

The carrier's mainline load factor of 87.8 per cent in July was 2.5 points above the July 2008 mainline load factor. The airline's domestic mainline load factor of 90.5 per cent was up 5.0 points year on year. In addition, the airline had an international mainline load factor of 85.3 per cent, up 0.3 points.

In July 2009, Continental flew 8.9 billion consolidated revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 10.2 billion consolidated available seat miles (ASMs), resulting in a consolidated traffic decrease of 3.4 per cent and a capacity decrease of 6.9 per cent compared to the same month the previous year.

During the reporting period, Continental flew 8.0 billion mainline RPMs and 9.1 billion mainline ASMs, resulting in a mainline traffic decrease of 3.4 per cent and a mainline capacity decrease of 6.3 per cent against July 2008. Domestic mainline traffic was 4.0 billion RPMs in July 2009, down 4.1 per cent from the same month a year earlier, and domestic mainline capacity was 4.4 billion ASMs, down 9.5 per cent year on year.

Consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is estimated to have decreased between 16.5 and 17.5 per cent compared to July 2008, while mainline RASM is estimated to have fallen between 17.5 and 18.5 per cent year on year. For June 2009, consolidated passenger RASM decreased 19.9 per cent against the same month a year earlier, while mainline passenger RASM declined 19.6 per cent year on year.

Continental's regional operations achieved a record July load factor of 83.3 per cent, up 7.3 points year on year. Regional RPMs were 904.4 million and regional ASMs were 1,086.0 million, resulting in a traffic decrease of 3.4 per cent and a capacity decrease of 11.8 per cent compared to July previous.

Cargo revenue ton miles declined 5.2 per cent in July compared to the same month a year earlier, to a total of 79,436,000.

(Source: www.schednet.com)