The FINANCIAL — Despite the disruption caused by repeated air traffic control strikes in France, the passenger and cargo activities maintained the positive trend seen over the past few months with a further rise in traffic and load factors and a marked improvement in unit revenues.
Passenger
Traffic increased by 3.1% in October with a slight increase in capacity (+1.0%), leading to a 1.7 point rise in load factor to 84.2%, a very high level for the period. The number of passengers stood at 6.4 million (+2.0%). Unit revenue per available seat kilometer (RASK) excluding currency was up strongly compared with October 2009, with dynamic performances in both economy and premium classes.
On the Americas network, traffic increased by 2.5% with capacity up by 3.2%. The load factor declined by 0.7 points to 88.3%.
• Traffic on the Asia network was dynamic, rising by 5.0% for a capacity increase of just 2.6%. The load factor gained 2.0 points to 89.5%.
• On the Africa and Middle East network, traffic was stable (+0.2%) for slightly lower capacity (-0.3%). The load factor gained 0.4 points to 79.4%.
• On the Caribbean and Indian Ocean network, traffic rose by 7.0% with capacity up by 3.0%. The load factor reached the high level of 83.1%, up by 3.2 points.
• Traffic on the European network was up by 2.2% despite the cancellation of some 1,800 flights due to the strikes. Capacity was down by 3.5% and the load factor therefore reached 76.5%, up 4.3 points.
Cargo
Traffic rose by 6.4% for capacity up by 2.4%. The load factor gained 2.7 points to 70.3%. Unit revenue per available ton-kilometer (RATK) excluding currency rose strongly versus October 2009.
Recent developments
The Group published its schedule for the Winter Season 2010-11, with a moderate increase in capacity (+3.3%). This is driven by targeted increases in long-haul (+4.1%), while medium-haul capacity remains virtually unchanged (+0.5%).
• The growth is mostly achieved through an increase in frequencies (to six daily flights on the Paris-New York route, two daily flights on Paris-Rio de Janeiro and Paris-Sao Paulo, ten weekly flights on Amsterdam-Tokyo, one daily flight on Amsterdam-San Francisco, Amsterdam-Seoul, etc.)
• The Group continues to improve its coverage of Africa, inaugurating the Kigali service this winter, leaving from Amsterdam.
• The Group’s four A380s remain on the routes already served: New York, Johannesburg and Tokyo.
• The service to a number of destinations has been improved thanks to the Group’s partners: Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi with Vietnam Airlines, the new partner within SkyTeam, Riyadh and Jeddah with Saudi Arabian Airlines, and Tokyo Haneda operated by JAL.
• The new Premium Voyageur cabin is now available on 90% of long-haul routes from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport. Some aircraft will start to be fitted with the new long-haul Business class seat as of the end of 2010.
At the same time, the Group has announced further new developments for 2011 with the opening of the Phnom Penh service by Air France and the Miami service by KLM.
SkyTeam has seen two positive developments within the space of a few weeks: Aerolineas Argentinas initiated the process to join the alliance, while Shanghai Airlines left Star Alliance and announced plans to join SkyTeam in 2011 at the same time as its parent company, China Eastern Airlines.
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