months of 2013, a 0.9% increase on the 7,704,275 of the same period last year.
Total flights performed declined 3.1%, from 75,269 to 72,899 flights. Of these, 64,315 were to
destinations within Europe (down 3.8%), while 8,584 were on intercontinental routes (up
1.7%). First-half systemwide seat load factor amounted to 82.6%, a further 1.3-
percentage-point improvement on the 81.3% of the prior-year period.
SWISS offered 2.9% more available-seat-kilometre (ASK) capacity systemwide in the first
six months of 2013 than it had for the same period last year. Total first-half traffic volume,
measured in revenue passenger-kilometres (RPKs), was a 4.5% improvement on the
prior-year period.
SWISS’s European network saw its ASK capacity reduced by 2.3%
while RPK volume increased 0.6%; and on the SWISS intercontinental network ASK
capacity was increased 5.5% while RPK volume rose 6.2%.
The higher loadings do not necessarily translate into higher earnings, though. Yields
remain under considerable pricing pressure.
The first-half traffic results for the airfreight business of Swiss WorldCargo showed only
slight changes from the prior-year period. Cargo load factor (by volume) stood at 78.6%,
a 0.7-percentage-point decline from the 79.3% of January-to-June 2012. Total cargo
sales, by contrast, were up 2.3% in revenue-tonne-kilometre terms.
SWISS’s traffic results for the month of June 2013 show a 2.8% increase in total
passenger numbers to 1,412,234 passengers (2012: 1,374,110). The systemwide seat
load factor of 87.7% was also a 0.8-percentage-point improvement on the same month
last year (2012: 86.9%). Seat load factor for European services was 1.7 percentage
points higher, while intercontinental seat load factor was up 0.2 percentage points.
Swiss WorldCargo posted a cargo load factor (by volume) of 77.8%, a 0.8-percentage-point
decline on the 78.6% of June 2012.
Swiss Media Release