WestJet today announced July 2017 traffic results with a load factor of 85.6 per cent, an increase of 0.4 percentage points year over year. Revenue passenger miles (RPMs), or traffic, increased 6.8 percent year over year, and capacity, measured in available seat miles (ASMs), grew 6.4 percent over the same period.

The airline flew a record 2.2 million guests in July, a year-over-year increase of 9.1 per cent or approximately 185,000 additional guests.

“We are very pleased with our continued strong traffic growth as we achieved a record July load factor, flew a record 2.2 million guests and set an all-time single day high by flying 76,985 guests on July 27th,” said WestJet President and CEO Gregg Saretsky. “I want to thank our almost 13,000 WestJetters for their dedication to providing a remarkable guest experience through this busy summer travel season.”

July 2017 traffic results

July 2017 July 2016 Change

Load factor 85.6% 85.2% 0.4 pts
ASMs (billions) 2.794 2.627 6.4%
RPMs (billions) 2.392 2.239 6.8%

Year-to-date 2017 Year-to-date 2016 Change

Load factor 83.3% 82.0% 1.3 pts
ASMs (billions) 18.057 17.037 6.0%
RPMs (billions) 15.045 13.976 7.6%

In July, WestJet announced its 2017-2018 winter schedule that includes:

• New non-stop weekly service from Calgary to Belize City, Belize and new non-stop weekly service from Edmonton and Vancouver to Huatulco, Mexico.

• Additional flights from Toronto to a number of sun destinations including Antigua, Cancun, Fort Lauderdale, Liberia, Orlando, Nassau, Puerto Plata, Punta Cana and Montego Bay.

• Additional flights from Toronto to a number of Canadian destinations including Winnipeg and Kelowna.

• Additional flights from Calgary to a number of sun destinations including Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Palm Springs and Puerto Vallarta.

• Additional flights from Calgary to a number of domestic destinations including Kitchener, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Kelowna and Brandon.

• Additional flights from Vancouver to a number of domestic and international destinations including Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Fort St. John, Calgary, Edmonton and Fort McMurray.

This winter WestJet will operate an average of 700 daily flights to 93 destinations including 37 in Canada, 22 in the United States, 33 in Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America and one in Europe.