Air Canada Reports 75 Pct Q3 Profit Jump

Air Canada posted a 75.7 percent jump in net income to CAD$768 million for its third quarter, on higher traffic and lower costs.

Operating revenue in the quarter to end September was CAD$4.45 billion, a 10.6 percent increase from last year.

Capacity (in available seat miles) was up 20.9 percent and traffic (in revenue passenger miles) up 18.9 percent. Corresponding load factor was down 1.5 percentage points at 85.5 percent.

Unit cost per available seat mile fell 8.3 percent on lower fuel costs.

Air Canada saw a 13.7 percent increase in passenger numbers, with a 27.9 percent jump in international-to-international connections as it added over 20 international and US trans-border routes.