GUADALAJARA, Mexico, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, S.A. de C.V. (BMV: GAP) ("the Company" or "GAP") today announced terminal passenger traffic figures for the month of July 2006 compared to traffic figures for July 2005.
During July 2006, total terminal passenger traffic increased 3.8% compared to the previous year, driven by domestic as well as international passenger traffic, which grew 3.8% and 3.7%, respectively.
It is important to mention that for July 2006 total as well as domestic terminal passenger volume at the Company's airports have reached maximum historical levels. It is also worth noting that in terms of international traffic, of the 6 times that GAP has reached historical levels, 4 have occurred during 2006, including the month of July. In terms of total terminal passenger traffic, of the 6 times GAP has reached record levels, 4 have also occurred in 2006, including the month of July. Therefore, terminal passenger traffic at GAP's airports for the first seven months of 2006 is at maximum historical levels.
The factors that continue to drive this growth are mainly:
-- The number of seats previously served by Aerocalifornia are
increasingly being covered by other airlines
-- A higher number of frequencies by the low cost carriers (LCC's)
Compared to July 2005, domestic terminal passenger traffic registered a net increase of 43.9 thousand passengers, mainly driven by the passenger traffic growth at the Guadalajara, Tijuana, Los Cabos, Bajio and Puerto Vallarta airports. The airports with the most notable increases were Guadalajara with 41.9 thousand passengers, Tijuana with 14.3 thousand passengers, Los Cabos with 11.5 thousand passengers, Bajio with 6.9 thousand passengers and Puerto Vallarta with 3.2 thousand passengers (increasing by 77.8 thousand domestic passengers traveling among the aforementioned airports compared to July 2005). In the cases of Guadalajara, Bajio and Tijuana the increase was largely due to the initiation of new routes operated by the LCC's (Interjet, Volaris, Alma, Click and Avolar), and in the case of Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta, the increase was due to the rising popularity of GAP's tourist destinations, and in the case of Los Cabos, by the initiation of operations by Interjet at this airport.
It is also worth mentioning that in the case of the Bajio airport, growth for July 2006 (11.0% compared to July 2005) ends the negative trend that has been the case on a monthly basis during 2006. The Tijuana airport also experienced an increase in traffic during July 2006 after decreases in both May and June, driven by the following: i) the initiation of the Tijuana-Los Mochis route by Avolar, which commenced operations in May, and was clearly reflected during the months of June and July, ii) the initiation of the Tijuana-Los Mochis-Puebla route by Alma during the second week of July with approximately 350 weekly seats (during 2005 the Tijuana-Los Mochis route was an exclusive Aerocalifornia route with 525 weekly seats serving a total of 36,424 passengers during 2005 -- and is currently receiving coverage of 115% - - that is 254 weekly available seats offered by Avolar in June plus approximately 350 weekly available seats offered by Alma), iii) initiation of the Tijuana-Monterrey-Toluca route with 6 weekly frequencies by Volaris, and iv) the Tijuana-Toluca-Cancun route with 7 weekly frequencies by Volaris, which initiated the last three routes during the second week of July.
Additionally, it is important to mention that in July, Alma initiated the Guadalajara-La Paz route, while Volaris initiated the Guadalajara-Toluca- Cancun route, among others.
At the same time GAP experienced declines in domestic terminal passenger traffic at the Aguascalientes airport with a decrease of 0.6 thousand passengers, Hermosillo with 10.9 thousand passengers, La Paz with 7.1 thousand passengers, Los Mochis with 4 thousand passengers, Morelia with 4.7 thousand passengers, Mexicali with 6 thousand passengers and Manzanillo with 0.6 thousand passengers, representing a total decline of 33.9 thousand domestic terminal passengers in the abovementioned airports compared to July 2005. In the cases of the La Paz, Los Mochis and Hermosillo airports, the effect was largely the result of the suspension of certain routes served exclusively or predominantly by Aerocalifornia, and have yet to receive total coverage by other airlines. Compared to June 2005, the Tijuana-Los Mochis route is now covered 115% in contrast to only 50.2% at the close of June 2006.
In terms of international traffic, the highest increases were observed at the Guadalajara airport, with 11.7 thousand passengers, representing a 4.7% increase compared to July 2005, Los Cabos with 11.3 thousand passengers, a 6.1% increase compared to July 2005, and Puerto Vallarta with 7 thousand passengers, an increase of 4.5% compared to July 2005. The growth at the Guadalajara airport corresponds to routes to and from Los Angeles, while the increases at Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos remained in line with the trend observed and continued to be driven primarily by tourists from the United States and Canada.
Furthermore, the decrease in international terminal passenger traffic at the La Paz, Hermosillo and Manzanillo airports was due to the stoppages in the following routes previously operated by Aerocalifornia: La Paz-Los Angeles, Hermosillo-Los Angeles and Manzanillo-Los Angeles.
Low-Cost Carriers
At the close of July 2006, the weekly schedule operated by low-cost carriers increased by 150 new frequencies compared to June 2006 (mainly due to 94 additional frequencies by Alma, distributed among the La Paz, Los Mochis, Tijuana and Guadalajara airports). As a result, the company has a total of 389 departure frequencies, with 25 routes served by these types of carriers.
In July, a total of approximately 280 thousand passengers were transported by low-cost carriers (Interjet, A Volar, Volaris, Alma and Click), representing 23.29% of domestic passenger traffic for the month.
Company Description:
Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, S.A. de C.V. (GAP) operates 12 airports throughout the Mexican Pacific region, including the main cities such as Guadalajara and Tijuana, four tourist destinations in Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, La Paz and Manzanillo in addition to six other medium-size cities such as Hermosillo, Bajio, Morelia, Aguascalientes, Mexicali and Los Mochis. In February 2006, the shares of GAP were listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "PAC" and in the Mexican Stock Exchange under the symbol "GAP".
This press communication may contain in the statements some estimates. These statements are non-historical facts and are based upon the current vision of the administration of GAP on the future economic circumstances, industry conditions, performance of the company and financial results. The words "anticipated," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "plans" and such other similar expressions, in connection with the Company, are intended to identify the estimations or expectations. The statements regarding the statement or payment of dividends, the implementation of the main operation and financial strategies and capital investment plans, the course of future operations and the factors or streams that affect the financial condition, cash flow for prompt payment or the results of operations are examples of the stated estimations. Such statements show the current vision of the management and are subject to several risks and possible future events. There is no guaranty that the expected events, streams or results will actually occur. The statements are based upon several assumptions and factors, including the general economic and market conditions, industry conditions and the operation factors. Any change in such assumptions or factors could cause the actual results to be materially different from the current expectations.
