GOL Announces June 2009 Traffic Figures
Written by thomas · Filed Under CommercialJuly 7, 2009
SAO PAULO, July 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (Bovespa: GOLL4 and NYSE: GOL), the largest low cost and low tariff airline in Latin America, announces its preliminary traffic figures for June 2009.
Management Comments
June 2009 reflected the beginning of activities related to the gradual and planned increase in the utilization of the Company’s operational fleet, an important factor in diluting operating costs. This is taking place in a sustainable manner, given that the second half is seasonally characterized by higher demand than the first six months. In June, for the first time in 2009, the average number of hours during which GOL’s fleet was operating (measured in block hours) was around 12 hours per day.
Thus, although the supply of total system seats (measured in ASK — available seat kilometers) suffered an apparent reduction of 1.2% over May 2009, the daily average ASK (adjusted for the difference in days between the two months: 30 in June and 31 in May) moved up by 2%. In year-over-year terms, however, ASK fell by 4.9%, due to GOL’s strategic repositioning — in mid-2008, it discontinued flights between Brazil and all destinations outside South America.
In line with its focus on increasing the profitability of its route network, most supply was directed towards the domestic market, where ASK dipped by 0.7% between May and June (but moved up 2.6% in daily average terms) and climbed by 3% over June 2008.
In addition to GOL’s competitive advantages in terms of cost leadership and greater frequency of flights between Brazil’s leading airports, the SMILES mileage program and the new fare packages made a positive contribution to increasing the Company’s air traffic.
June’s traffic figures reflected the impact of a series of promotions in recent months, including special fare offers and SMILES promotions (e.g. double mileage), designed to attract passengers and improve the Company’s position in this low, pre-vacation season.
As result, total system traffic (measured in RPK — revenue passenger kilometers) increased by 0.8% over June 2008 and 9.3% over May 2009, the peak of the low season. International traffic recorded a similar month-over-month trajectory, moving up by 3.8%, but dropped by 44.6% year-over-year due to the elimination of the long-haul routes.
Consequently, GOL recorded a consolidated load factor of 63.8%, 1.6 percentage point down on the 65.4% registered in June 2008 and 5.8 percentage points above the 57.9% recorded in the previous month. The domestic load factor stood at 65.6% and the international one at 51.4%, both of which still below the same month last year and substantially higher than in May 2009.
This seasonal positioning reflected the strategic reduction in yield, which reached its lowest level of the year in June, below the R$ 19.43 cents (R$) recorded in 2Q08. For the second quarter as a whole, yield increased in year-over-year terms but was below the R$ 21.93 cents (R$) posted in the first quarter, albeit within the Company’s expectations.
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