MONTREAL, June 4, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - For the month of May, Air Canada reported a record system load factor of 83.3 per cent, versus 81.8 per cent in May 2013, an increase of 1.5 percentage points on a system-wide capacity increase of 8.1 per cent. On this additional capacity, system wide traffic for May increased 10.1 per cent. Air Canada reports traffic results on a system-wide basis, including Air Canada rouge^TM, which began operations on July 1, 2013, and regional airlines from which Air Canada purchases capacity.

"I am pleased to report a record load factor of 83.3 per cent for the month of May," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer.  "Air Canada generated greater traffic for the month of May in all markets the airline serves with system wide growth of 10.1 per cent on a capacity increase of 8.1 per cent, led by increases in traffic in U.S. transborder, Latin America, Caribbean, and Atlantic markets.  These strong results underscore the effectiveness of Air Canada's focused capacity management and our award winning product that we continue to invest in to further strengthen our position as Best Airline in North America. In addition, Air Canada rouge has proven to be very popular with customers as evidenced by generating an overall load factor for the month of May of 84.9 per cent.  With the delivery in May of our first 787 Dreamliner, a key element of our on-going fleet renewal program, we unveiled our new international standard for cabin amenities that is industry leading in North America. I would like to thank our employees for their continued focus on taking good care of our customers and transporting them safely to their destinations."

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 180 destinations on five continents.  Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2013 served more than 35 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 60 Canadian cities, 49 destinations in the United States and 73 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,269 destinations in 193 countries.  Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax that ranked Air Canada in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers as Best Airline in North America in 2013 for the fourth consecutive year.  For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com.

SOURCE Air Canada