Iberia load factor up 4.4 ppts; Air France staff to hold another strike: El Al slips

In key markets, UK's FTSE (-0.4%), Germany's DAX (+0.3%) and France's CAC (-0.1%) all slipped for the day.

Iberia load factor up 4.4 ppts for Sep-2010

Iberia (-0.6%) slipped for the day. During trading, the carrier reported a 4.4 ppt year-on-year improvement in load factor for Sep-2010, to 83.4%. The result was led by a 7.0 ppt rise in domestic load factor, to 77.0%:

• Domestic: 77%, +7.0 ppts;
• Medium-haul: 80.3%, +1.8 ppts;
  • Europe: 81.2%, +2.1 ppts;
  • Africa and Middle East: 74.7%, +1.0 ppt;
• Long-haul: 85.6%, +4.4 ppts.

The rise in load factor was also the result of a 10.1% rise in passenger traffic (RPKs) on a 4.3% increase in capacity (ASMs). The increase in traffic for the period was led by a 17.3% rise in long-haul traffic:

• Domestic: -5%;
• Medium-haul: -0.5%;
  • Europe: -2.3%;
  • Africa and Middle East: +12.8%;
• Long-haul: +17.3%.

See related CAPA Profile: Traffic and Capacity

Air France staff to hold another strike

Air France-KLM (-0.3%) also slipped after unions reportedly called a one-day strike on 16-Oct-2010 to protest the government's pension-reform plans. No further details were provided.

El Al market share at Ben-Gurion Tel Aviv Airport declining

El Al (+0.6%) edged higher, despite the Israeli Airports Authority (IAA) stating El Al's market share at Ben-Gurion International Airport declined from 40.4% over the first nine months of 2006 to 32.7% over the first nine months of 2010. If the market share of El Al and Sun Dor (the carrier's charter subsidiary) is included, the combined market share decreased from 41.7% to 36.6%.

See related CAPA Profile: Market Share

Elsewhere, Turkish Airlines (-3.3%) continued its decline, while Finnair (-2.9%) was also down for the day. Dart Group (+4.7%) and Norwegian (+2.9%) gained.

Europe selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 14-Oct-2010

Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Yahoo! Finance & Reuters