The Qantas Group saw an increase in revenue seat factor during February, primarily driven by stronger domestic traffic.
Overall, the Group posted a seat factor of 79.4, up one percentage point on the same time last year. Passenger numbers increased by 14.2 per cent, which lifted revenue passenger kilometres by 3.8 per cent. Total group capacity was up by 2.5 per cent.
Qantas branded domestic services saw a healthy five per cent increase in passenger numbers, while a one per cent trim in capacity resulted in a five point increase in load factor to 79.1 per cent. QantasLink also saw a five per cent increase in passengers carried, although its load factor declined by 0.9 points to 63.3 per cent. By contrast, Qantas’s international services continued to show weakness, with passenger numbers down 16.6 per cent, although a 7.1 per cent cut in capacity saw load factor fall by only 1.7 points to 80.1 per cent.
Jetstar also recorded a strong month, with passenger volumes up 13.7 per cent, while capacity was up by 10.3 per cent, resulting in a 3.8 percentage point increase in seat factor to 82.7 per cent. Jetstar international services also saw a healthy 5.3 point increase in load factor to 79.7 per cent, but recent media reports claim that there is a data issue with its international figures as they may have been distorted by the inclusion of its domestic New Zealand services.
