International Airlines Group (IAG), the UK-based airline holding company that owns British Airways, has announced a growth in traffic in April 2012.
The company has reported that premium traffic increased by 4.8% in April 2012 compared to the same month in 2011. Premium traffic has outgrown the company’s traffic for economic fares, which increased by 2.6% in April 2012, from that in April 2011.
Total traffic for the company increased by 2.9% in April 2012, compared to April 2011, while capacity increased by 0.5% for the month compared to that for April 2011. Passenger load factor in April 2012 has increased by 1.9 point to 81.6% over the prior year period.
The company has reported that the results are not inclusive of its newly acquired Bmi airline from Dutch airline, Lufthansa. The airline acquisition was completed on April 20, 2012.
Earlier, Easyjet, a UK-based airline, reported growth in passenger traffic by 8.6% in April 2012, to 5.1 million, compared to 4.7 million in April 2011. The airline load factors increased from 86.5% in April 2012, to 89.3% in April 2011.
Another UK-based airline, Ryanair, has reported a 6% increase in passenger traffic in April 2012, from 6.8 million in April 2011, to 7.2 million. Load factor in April 2012 has lowered by 1% to 81%, compared to last year.