Continental Airlines reports a 9.7% fall in passenger traffic in March 2009

Continental Airlines, based in Houston, Texas, the United States, has reported that its passenger traffic dropped by as much as 9.7% in March 2009 from the same period a year before on account of the worldwide recession that sapped demand for air travel.

Continental Airlines said in a statement that paying customers flew 6.67 billion miles in March 2009 – down from 7.41 billion miles in March 2008.

While Continental Airlines’ capacity came down by 7% to 8.35 billion available seat miles in March 2009 from 8.97 billion available seat miles in March 2008, average occupancy – or, load factor – dropped to 79.9% from 82.6% in the same period a year before.

The carrier’s revenue per available seat miles – which is an important measure of an airline’s financial performance – declined by around 19% in March 2009 compared to March 2008. And, this plunge was almost double the 10% fall in revenue as a factor of capacity in February 2009, the statement from Continental Airlines said.

While domestic traffic of Continental Airlines, the fifth largest airline in the world, saw a decline to the tune of 12.4%, international traffic was down by 7.5%.
Continental Airlines said passenger traffic on trans-Atlantic routes was down by 8.8% in March 2009 and capacity slid by 3.1%.

While the airline’s US passenger traffic also fared badly, with traffic and capacity each declining by as much as 12%, traffic on its Latin American network came down by 4.8% in March 2009.

Cargo traffic, which is measured by revenue ton miles, slipped by 21.3% in March 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.

According to aviation analysts, airlines based in the United States are generally expected to report that the revenue per available seat mile in March 2009 is lower than in the previous two months.

In March 200, Continental Airlines had said in a press release that a deceleration in business travel had adversely affected its revenue per available seat mile (RASM) and that the numbers had been getting worse since January 2009.

In March 2009, Continental Airlines registered an on-time arrival rate of 74.2% and a mainline segment completion factor of 99.0% (as recorded by the United States Department of Transportation).