Traffic increased 12.7 per cent on capacity increase of 11.4 per cent

MONTREAL, Aug. 6, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - For the month of July, Air Canada reported a record system load factor of 86.7 per cent, versus 85.6 per cent in July 2013, an increase of 1.1 percentage points on a system-wide capacity increase of 11.4 per cent. On this additional capacity, system wide traffic for July increased 12.7 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 86.7 per cent for the month of July on a capacity increase of 11.4 per cent year over year," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer.  "System wide, traffic grew 12.7 per cent, led by significant growth in the U.S. transborder and Atlantic markets. This is the fourth consecutive month Air Canada has set new records system-wide for passengers boarded. These strong traffic results demonstrate that we are effectively executing on both our international growth plan and on our Air Canada rouge leisure strategy.  We continue to build Toronto Pearson into a truly global hub for customers travelling between the United States and our international network, and on July 1 we inaugurated the only non-stop service between Toronto and Tokyo-Haneda with convenient daytime flights within easy access to downtown Tokyo.  For the fifth year in a row, Air Canada was selected as Best Airline in North America in the annual Skytrax survey of global travellers.  I would like to thank our employees whose professionalism and dedication is recognized with this distinction that places us among the best airlines in the world."

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 1,316 airports in 192 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 2014 for the fifth consecutive year.  For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com.

SOURCE Air Canada