Swiss International Air Lines (Swiss) transported a total of 15,816,469 passengers in 2012 – the largest annual volume in the history of Swiss aviation.
Greater passenger numbers do not necessarily translate into enhanced earnings, though; and Swiss’s earnings performance continues to suffer from high oil prices and the downward pressure on fares.
Swiss’s passenger volume for 2012 was a 3.3 per cent improvement on the 15,317,275 of the previous year. Total annual capacity was 4.7 per cent up on 2011 in available-seat-kilometre (ASK) terms. System wide seat load factor for the year stood at 82.9 per cent (compared to 81.8 per cent for 2011). And the 150,860 flights operated in 2012 were a 0.5 per cent increase on the prior year.
Seat load factor for Swiss’s intercontinental network amounted 2012 to 87.1 per cent, a 1.4-percentage-point improvement on 2011. Total traffic volume rose 7.5 per cent in revenue-passenger-kilometre (RPK) terms; on total ASK capacity that was a 5.8 per cent increase on the previous twelve months.
2012 ASK capacity for Swiss’s European network was a 2.4 per cent increase on the previous year. Total RPK traffic volume rose by three per cent, and European seat load factor stood at 74.7 per cent (compared to 74.3 per cent for 2011).
Swiss WorldCargo achieved a cargo load factor (by volume) for 2012 of 79.3 per cent, a 0.8-percentage-point improvement on the 78.5 per cent of the previous year. Annual cargo sales were raised 8.9 per cent in revenue-tonne-kilometre terms.
A total of 1,183,657 passengers travelled with SWISS in December 2012 (compared to 1,194,594 in the prior-year period). System wide seat load factor for the month stood at 79.7 per cent. Cargo load factor slipped 0.6 percentage points to 82.3 per cent.