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Southwest traffic up 3% in March

Analysis

Southwest Airlines has reported a 3% increase in revenue passengers and a 5.8% increase in overall passenger numbers for Mar-2011. Average load factors improved 0.6% and flights made were up nearly 5%. Passenger revenue per ASM is estimated to have increased in the range of 8-9% compared to Mar-2010, following a number of fare increases this year.

Shares in Southwest were down 2.9%, as the airline's stock continued its downward trajectory following the fuselage problem with one of its older B737s.

Also in the US, Allegiant Air reported a 4.8% increase in passenger traffic, with load factors up 1.2 percentage points. Scheduled revenue per ASM increased an estimated 18.1% to 18.5%. Allegiant shares fell 1.1% on Thursday.

In Europe Norwegian Air Shuttle reported the following traffic highlights for Mar-2011:

  • Passenger numbers: 1.2 million, +13% year-on-year;
  • Passenger load factor: 75%, -3.0 ppts;
  • Yield: EUR6.65 cents, -5%;
  • Revenue per ASK: EUR4.99 cents, -10%;
  • On-time departure rate: 84.7%.

Selected LCC daily share price movements (% change): 07-Apr-2011

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