LONDON (dpa-AFX) - International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A. (IAG.L, BAIRY.PK, BAY.L), owner of British Airways Plc and Spanish airline Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana S.A., on Thursday reported year-over-year increases in traffic and capacity for the month of March. However, load factor for the month declined from last year.
International Consolidated Airlines Group or IAG's group traffic for the month of March, measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs, increased 10.2 percent to 15.53 billion from 14.09 billion in the year-ago period.
This reflects an 89.3 percent increase in domestic traffic (UK, Spain and Italy) and a 38.9 percent increase in European traffic. On a pro-forma basis, group traffic rose 2.6 percent from last year.
The company noted that group premium traffic for the month increased by 8.6 percent compared to the prior year.
Group capacity, measured in available seat kilometres or ASKs, rose 13.2 percent in March to 20.00 billion from 17.67 billion in the prior-year period. Domestic capacity for the month surged 67.6 percent, while capacity in Europe grew 32.9 percent. On a pro-forma basis, group capacity increased 5.4 percent.
However, passenger load factor declined 2.2 percentage points to 77.6 percent from 79.8 percent in the year-ago period. This was despite an 8.7 percent increase in domestic load factor and a 3.4 percent increase in Europe load factor.
According to IAG, traffic and load factor were affected by the timing of route launches this month. In addition, the company noted that Easter, which fell in March last year, falls in April this year.
Total passengers carried by the airline during the month rose 4.2 percent to 5.68 million from 4.37 million in the year-ago period.
IAG noted that underlying market conditions remained unchanged from those published when the company announced fiscal 2013 results.
In Thursday's regular session on the London Stock Exchange, IAG.L is trading at 440.50 pence, up 4.00 pence or 0.92 percent on a volume of 3.27 million shares.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX