European regionals log record loads
Feeder carriers in Europe saw record passenger loads last year as increased passenger numbers outstripped the growth in seats, according to the European Re

Feeder carriers in Europe saw record passenger loads last year as increased passenger numbers outstripped the growth in seats, according to the European Regions Airline Association (ERA). Member operators carried 7.5 percent more passengers in 2007 than in the preceding year, compared with a 5.2-percent increase in seat numbers.

The growth translated into record 65-percent passenger load factors as traffic (revenue passenger seat-miles/kilometers) gains of 9.6 percent came in comfortably ahead of changes in capacity (available seat-mile/kilometers), which rose by 7.5 percent. The higher capacity increase over that in seat numbers resulted from regional airlines’ longer average sector lengths in the first 10 months of last year, a factor that also accounts for the greater traffic growth over gains in passenger numbers.