ERA member airlines report increased
Regional operators in Europe are seeing slightly higher loads as they fly marginally longer sectors, according to the latest figures from the European Regi

Regional operators in Europe are seeing slightly higher loads as they fly marginally longer sectors, according to the latest figures from the European Regions Airline Association (ERA). Comparing the first six months of this year with the same period last year, ERA noted that regionals traffic (passenger-miles) grew by 6 percent and capacity (available seat-miles) increased by 5.6 percent, for a small gain in passenger load factor (PLF).

But while the number of seats increased by 4.2 percent, passenger volume grew by only 3.7 percent, apparently suggesting a slight decline in PLF. ERA attributes this anomaly to the way its statistics are calculated, using some monthly figures and some covering the whole report period, according to infrastructure and environment manager Lorna Reader.