Air China: Management discussion of May-2010 operating data
13-Jun-2010 Moving into a traditionally stronger season, Air China saw sustained strong growth in air passenger traffic in May 2010, with international, domestic and regional routes all recording high year-over-year growth.
On a month-over-month basis, performance varied as international and domestic routes continued to see traffic growth, while regional routes experienced a decline in traffic compared with the previous month. The cargo business maintained solid year-over-year growth; international routes recorded exceptional traffic growth, while domestic and regional routes saw a slight increase in traffic.
Passenger capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometers (ASK), grew 14.6% year-over-year. Passenger traffic, measured by Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPK), saw 25.9% growth in May. Capacity on international routes increased by 9.8% year-over-year, while RPK rose by 25.0%. Capacity on domestic and regional routes increased by 17.1% and 26.2% year-over-year, respectively, with RPK up 25.2% and 53.2%, respectively. The passenger load factor was 78.2%, up 7.0 percentage points year-over-year; the passenger load factor for international, domestic and regional routes improved by 9.7, 5.1 and 13.1 percentage points year-over-year, respectively; however, there was a slight across-the-board decline on a month-over-month basis. (Please note these figures do not include Shenzhen Airlines and Air Macau.)
Cargo capacity, measured in Available Freighter Tonne Kilometres (AFTK), rose by 16.2% year-over-year. Freighter tonnage carried, and Revenue Freighter Tonne Kilometres (RFTK) increased by 35.5% and 41.3%, respectively, compared with the same month in 2009. The cargo load factor improved to 61.8%, an increase of 11.0 percentage points year-over-year.
During the month, the Company's average jet fuel purchase price at international airports was RMB5,297per tonne, and the average purchase price of jet fuel for international flights at the top six Chinese airports was RMB5,717 per tonne, representing 50% and 49% year-over-year increases, respectively. The Company's average jet fuel purchase price for domestic flights was RMB5,868 per tonne, an increase of 42% compared with May last year.