British Airways, a UK based airline, has reported a post-Olympic surge in passenger traffic in September this year.
The airline has reported a 5.1 percent increase in traffic for September 2012, following a post-Olympic campaign that it conducted. The increase in traffic has been mostly from premium cabin sales, which have seen an increase of around 8 percent for the month when compared to the same month in 2011, while economy class traffic has increased by 4.6 percent during the period.
IAG, the parent company of British Airways, said in a statement, ‘British Airways has been engaging in heavy promotional activity during and post the Olympic and Paralympic Games culminating in the ‘Thank-you Great Britain sale’, which ended on September 25. This has positively impacted our volumes in both premium and non-premium cabins.
Trading conditions at our London (Heathrow) hub remain firm. Performance at Madrid continues to be impacted by weak economic conditions, with short haul traffic particularly affected.’
The company has also reported that Iberia Express, a subsidiary of Iberia airlines, has completed its first six months of operation, carrying 1.5 million passengers in the period and accomplishing a 94 percent punctuality rate. Iberia Express is set to expand its operations to 16 destinations, including seven international airports.
Including all of its subsidiaries, the parent company has reported carrying a total of 5.1 million passengers in September 2012, an increase of 8.7 percent over the same period last year, with a capacity rise of 3.6 percent. The load factor has increased to 84 percent, a rise of 1.2 percent from the same period last year.
Ryanair, an Ireland-based low cost airline, had previously reported an 8 percent increase in passenger traffic in September 2012, from 7.25 million for the same period in 2011, to 7.84 million, for a 1 percent reduction in load factor, to 84 percent.
