Azul, one of the biggest names in Brazillian aviation and the largest airline in Brazil by the number of cities served and flight departures, released its preliminary traffic results for September 2018, earlier this week.
According to the numbers, consolidated passenger traffic (RPKs) was up some 16.0% compared to September 2017 on a capacity increase (ASKs) of 16.1%. As a result, the load factor remained flat at 83.2%. Domestic load factor was 82.6% and international was 85.0%.
“In the third quarter, consolidated RPKs increased 20.2% on a capacity increase of 19.3% year over year. We are very pleased with the current demand environment in Brazil, which continues to improve as we approach the high season. We have just received our 18th A320neo, and couldn’t be more excited with the superior economics and revenue enhancing benefits of these aircraft,” says John Rodgerson, Azul’s CEO.
Azul currently operates some 766 flights each day to over 110 destinations on a fleet of 120 aircraft and employs more than 10,000 crewmembers. As of 30th September this year, the airline had a network of 218 non-stop routes and was recently awarded best airline in Latin America by TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice and best regional carrier in South America for the eighth consecutive time by Skytrax.
Year to date we continue to be the number one on-time airline in Brazil, with an on-time arrival rate of 87.1% according to FlightStats.
| Sep-18 | Sep-17 | % ∆ | 3Q18 | 3Q17 | % ∆ | YTD 2018 | YTD 2017 | % ∆ | ||||||||||
| Total | ||||||||||||||||||
| RPK (million) | 1,948 | 1,679 | 16.0% | 6,447 | 5,364 | 20.2% | 17,994 | 15,379 | 17.0% | |||||||||
| ASK (million) | 2,342 | 2,017 | 16.1% | 7,701 | 6,454 | 19.3% | 21,928 | 18,794 | 16.7% | |||||||||
| Load factor | 83.2% | 83.2% | +0.0 p.p. | 83.7% | 83.1% | +0.6 p.p. | 82.1% | 81.8% | +0.3 p.p. | |||||||||
| Domestic | ||||||||||||||||||
| RPK (million) | 1,475 | 1,321 | 11.7% | 4,740 | 4,148 | 14.3% | 13,188 | 12,316 | 7.1% | |||||||||
| ASK (million) | 1,786 | 1,615 | 10.6% | 5,748 | 5,084 | 13.1% | 16,396 | 15,397 | 6.5% | |||||||||
| Load factor | 82.6% | 81.8% | +0.8 p.p. | 82.5% | 81.6% | +0.9 p.p. | 80.4% | 80.0% | +0.4 p.p. | |||||||||
| International | ||||||||||||||||||
| RPK (million) | 473 | 358 | 32.1% | 1,707 | 1,216 | 40.4% | 4,806 | 3,062 | 56.9% | |||||||||
| ASK (million) | 557 | 402 | 38.4% | 1,953 | 1,370 | 42.6% | 5,531 | 3,397 | 62.9% | |||||||||
| Load factor | 85.0% | 89.1% | -4.1 p.p. | 87.4% | 88.8% | -1.4 p.p. | 86.9% | 90.2% | -3.3 p.p. | |||||||||
(Photo Azul)
