Air China April passenger traffic up 12.7%

Despite launching two new domestic flights between Hangzhou and Beihaion April 20 and between Wuhan and Hohhot, the carrier's international routes decreased by 1.3 percentage points.

Passenger traffic continued to display steady year-over-year growth across the board in April 2011. Month-over-month, domestic and regional traffic recorded a rise while international traffic registered a drop. As for cargo, domestic and international Revenue Freighter Tonne Kilometres (RFTK) and freighter tonnage carried showed various levels of year-on-year growth, while those figures for regional routes showed a year-on-year decrease.

Passenger capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK), was up 8.9% year-over-year. Passenger traffic, measured by Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPK), rose by 12.7%. Capacity on domestic routes increased by 7%, while RPK climbed 13.9% year-over-year. Capacity on international routes rose by 12.7%, with RPK increasing by 10.9%. Capacity on regional routes expanded 5%, with RPK growing 9.3%. The passenger load factor was 82.9%, up 2.8 percentage points year-over-year. The passenger load factor for domestic and regional routes increased by 5.1 and 3.2 percentage points year-over-year, but international routes decreased by 1.3 percentage points. In all, the year-on-year growth of passenger traffic in April was higher than that of ASK, while the passenger load factor and operational efficiency continued to rise.

Cargo capacity, measured in Available Freighter Tonne Kilometres (AFTK), rose 12.5% year-over-year in April. Both Revenue Freighter Tonne Kilometres (RFTK) and freighter tonnage carried increased by 13.4%, compared with April 2010. The cargo load factor was 60%, an increase of 0.5 percentage points year-over-year.

Starting from April, the company launched two new domestic flights between Hangzhou and Beihai (four times a week) on April 20 and between Wuhan and Hohhot (two times a week) on April 23.

During the month, Air China purchased a total of 270,000 tonnes of jet fuel at an average price of RMB7,252 per tonne, a year-over-year surge of 33%. The average jet fuel purchase price at international airports was RMB7,219 per tonne, and the average purchase price of jet fuel for international flights at the top six Chinese airports was RMB7,451 per tonne, representing steep 42% and 40% year-over-year increases, respectively. The average jet fuel purchase price for domestic flights was RMB7,191 per tonne, a rise of 28% compared with April last year.

During the month, the company added three new aircraft, including one B737-800, one A320 and one A330. As at the end of April, Air China operated a fleet of 290 aircraft, according to an Air China report.