SWISS posts record passenger volume for 2016

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) transported 16,517,559 passengers in 2016, a 1.3% increase on 2015, which had itself been a record year in passenger volume terms. A total of 145,868 flights were operated systemwide in 2016, some 0.5% more than the previous year. Of these, 127,055 (up 0.3%) were within Europe and 18,813 (up 2.1%) were on intercontinental routes.

Annual systemwide capacity was raised 6.6% in available seat-kilometre (ASK) terms. Annual traffic volume, measured in revenue passenger-kilometres (RPKs), was up 4.0%. On its European network SWISS raised its ASK capacity by 2.6%, while its RPK traffic volumes saw a 0.2% decline. On its intercontinental services ASK capacity was raised by 8.5%, while RPK volumes were a 5.7% increase on the previous year.

Seat load factor for SWISS’s European services amounted to 76.4% for 2016, down 2.1 percentage points. Seat load factor for SWISS’s intercontinental services declined 2.2 percentage points to 83.4%. Systemwide seat load factor for 2016 amounted to 81.3%, a 2.1-percentage-point year-on-year decline.

The airfreight business of Swiss WorldCargo achieved a cargo load factor (by volume) of 75.2% for 2016, a slight 0.7 percentage points below its prior-year level. Annual cargo sales, by contrast, were raised 7.1% in revenue tonne-kilometre terms.

In December 2016 SWISS1 carried 1,272,691 passengers, a 5.7% increase on the prior-year period. A total of 11,119 flights were operated in the month, 1.7% fewer than in December 2015.

Systemwide ASK capacity for December was raised 6.6% from its prior-year level. RPK traffic volume for the month was also an increase – of 7.9% – on the prior-year period. Systemwide seat load factor improved accordingly, rising 1.0 percentage points to 80.5%.

SWISS will publish its 2016 financial results on 16 March 2017.