Brazilian carrier Azul’s passenger traffic (RPKs) increased 15.9 per cent in October this year to 1.95 million compared to the same month last year on a capacity increase (ASKs) of 16.6 per cent to 2.37 million.
The largest airline in Brazil by number of cities served and flight departures said this resulted in a load factor of 82.4 per cent, slightly lower than October 2017.
Domestic load factor was 81.6 per cent, an increase of 0.7 percentage points compared to the same month last year and international load factor was 84.9 per cent, down 5.6 percentage points.
In the first 10 months of 2018, RPKs are up 16.9 per cent to 19.9 million on the back of an ASK jump of 16.7 per cent to 24.3 million resulting in a load factor of 82.1 per cent, up 0.2 percentage points on the same 10 months in 2017.
Azul chief executive officer, John Rodgerson (pictured left) said: “Year to date, we increased capacity by an impressive 16.7 per cent while increasing load factor to 82.1 per cent, demonstrating a robust demand environment, especially in domestic flights.
“International load factor remained at a healthy 85 per cent. We are impressed with the performance of the 18 A320neos in our fleet, they are essential to strengthen our network while reducing unit cost.”
