Spanish airline Iberia reports drop in September passenger load factor
14 Oct 2008
Madrid: Spain's largest airline, the Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA has reported that its passenger load factor dropped to 80.6 per cent in September 2008, from 84.8 per cent a year ago. The airline's load factor in August 2008 was 84.2 per cent.
Load factor is a measure of occupancy in the airline industry, and is calculated as the percentage of all seats offered which are occupied on flights. Iberia said that economic conditions were responsible for a weakening of demand in the aviation sector as a whole, which have impacted ticket sales.
Iberia's long-haul routes had a load factor of 84.6 per cent in September, against 88.4 per cent a year ago. It was at 87.6 per cent in August 2008.
Iberia and British Airways had said in July that they were in discussions evaluating a possible merger that would create the third largest airline in the world in terms of revenue.
