Southwest Airlines reports December traffic figures

Airline Industry Information, Jan 5, 2005

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Southwest Airlines has announced its passenger traffic figures for December 2004.

The carrier flew 4.3bn revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in December 2004, compared to 3.9bn RPMs in December 2003. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 12.2% to 6.9bn and the load factor for the month was 62.9%, compared to 64.0% for the same period in the previous year.

For the fourth quarter of 2004 Southwest Airlines flew 13.1bn RPMs, compared to the 11.7bn RPMs recorded for Q4 2003, an increase of 12.6%. ASMs increased 10.5% to 20.2bn and the Q4 2004 load factor was 65.0%, compared to 63.8% for the same period a year ago.

For the year ended 31 December 2004 Southwest flew 53.4bn RPMs, compared to the 47.9bn RPMs recorded in 2003, an increase of 11.4%. ASMs increased 7.1% to 76.9bn and the year's load factor was 69.5%, compared to 66.8% for the previous year.

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