Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) transported 16,307,542 travellers last year – an all-time record annual passenger volume, and a 0.9% improvement on the 16,169,411 of 2014. The airline operated 145,146 flights in the course of 2015, up 0.7% on the 144,116 of the previous year. Of these, 126,715 were within Europe (up 0.6%) and 18,431 (up 1.2%) were on intercontinental routes.
Total annual capacity was raised 1.1% year-on-year in available seat-kilometre (ASK) terms. Total traffic volume, measured in revenue passenger-kilometres (RPK), increased by 0.8%. The European network saw a 0.1% reduction in ASK capacity and a 1.1% increase in RPK traffic volume, while the intercontinental network witnessed a 1.7% increase in ASK capacity and a 0.6% rise in RPK traffic volume.
Annual seat load factor on European services stood at 78.5%, a 0.9-percentage-point increase on the 77.6% of 2014. Annual seat load factor for the intercontinental network amounted to 85.6%, down 0.9 percentage points from the 86.5% of the previous year. Systemwide seat load factor for the year stood at 83.4%, a slight 0.3-percentage-point decline from the 83.7% of 2014.
The airfreight business of SWISS WorldCargo posted a cargo load factor (by volume) for the year of 75.9%, 3.5 percentage points down from the 79.4% of 2014. Total cargo sales declined 4.3% in revenue tonne-kilometre terms.
In December 2015 SWISS carried a total of 1,203,667 passengers, a 2.6% decline from the 1,236,146 of December 2014. A total of 11,393 flights were operated in the month, 3.0% up from the 11,062 of the prior-year period. Of these, 9,838 were within Europe (up 3.5%) and 1,555 (down 0.3%) were on intercontinental routes.
December ASK capacity was a 0.9% increase on the same month in 2014. RPK volume for the month was 2.6% down year-on-year. Systemwide seat load factor declined accordingly, from the 82.3% of December 2014 to 79.5%, a fall of 2.8 percentage points. December seat load factor for European services declined 3.2 percentage points from 75.9% to 72.7%, while seat load factor for intercontinental services slipped 2.6 percentage points from 84.8% to 82.2%.
Swiss WorldCargo reported a cargo load factor (by volume) for December of 76.8%, down 4.2 percentage points from the 81.0% of December 2014. Total cargo sales were some 7.5% below their prior-year level in revenue tonne-kilometre terms.
SWISS’s 2015 financial results will be presented on 17 March.
