Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Airline Stock Roundup: ALGT & RYAAY's Impressive Traffic Reports, JBLU's Expansion Update

Read MoreHide Full Article

Driven by upbeat air travel demand, Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT - Free Report) reported impressive year-over-year increases in traffic and capacity for November 2023. The same tailwind was responsible for Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY - Free Report) carrying 9% more passengers in December than a year ago. 

Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) was also in the news for announcing additional flights to Houston to enable fans to watch the final match for college football between Michigan and Washington. Meanwhile, JetBlue Airways (JBLU - Free Report) launched flights on the Fort Lauderdale - Tallahassee route.

Read the last Airline Roundup here.

Recap of the Recent Most Important Stories

1 In November, Allegiant’s scheduled traffic (measured in revenue passenger miles) rose 7.7% from November 2022. Capacity (measured in available seat miles) for scheduled service grew 10.5% from the November 2022 reading. The load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) in November 2023 reached 83.8%. Total departures (scheduled services) jumped 11.3% in November 2023 from a year ago. For the total system (including scheduled service and fixed fee contract), Allegiant carried 9.2% more passengers in November 2023 from the year-ago levels.

2. The number of passengers transported on Ryanair flights was 12.54 million in December 2023, reflecting a 9% year-over-year increase. Apart from year-over-year growth, RYAAY’s traffic has also shown sequential improvement. The December figure compares favorably with the November 2023 figure of 11.7 million. The load factor was high at 91% in December 2023. RYAAY operated more than 72,500 flights in December 2023, which is higher than 66,400 flights in November 2023.

European carrier Ryanair currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

3. Delta decided to add nine flights to Houston from Detroit and Seattle in response to the excitement surrounding college football. These flights will have 1,272 additional seats for football fans. DAL’s current move will enable fans to view the title match at NRG Stadium on Jan 8. The new flights are in addition to Delta’s route to Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport. The existing flight will expand travel options for Michigan Wolverines fans. The new flights on the Seattle-Houston route will do the same for Washington Huskies fans.

4. JetBlue expanded its presence in Florida by launching daily flights between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Tallahassee International Airport. The route has limited competition. Since Tallahassee is home to major universities, easy access to the place is essential. However, since it is quite far from South Florida, driving to the place is not convenient. Therefore, introducing flights to Tallahassee is a prudent move by JetBlue management and is likely to attract significant traffic.

Performance

The following table shows the price movement of the major airline players over the past week and during the last six months.

 

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

The table above shows that all airline stocks have traded in the red over the past week, resulting in the NYSE ARCA Airline Index declining 7.3% to $64.04. Over the past six months, the NYSE ARCA Airline Index has depreciated 15.8%.

What’s Next in the Airline Space?

Investors await Delta's fourth-quarter 2023 earnings report, scheduled to be revealed on Jan 12.


Zacks' 7 Best Strong Buy Stocks (New Research Report)


Valued at $99, click below to receive our just-released report
predicting the 7 stocks that will soar highest in the coming month.


Click Here, It's Really Free

Published in