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Copa Holdings' (CPA) December Traffic Rises From 2022 Levels

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Copa Holdings, S.A.(CPA - Free Report) reported solid traffic numbers for December 2023 on the back of upbeat air-travel demand. Driven by high passenger volumes, revenue passenger miles (a measure of traffic) rose in double digits in December on a year-over-year basis.

To match the rising demand, CPA is increasing its capacity. In December, available seat miles (a measure of capacity) increased 9.3% year over year. Revenue passenger miles increased 10.6%. With traffic growth outpacing capacity expansion, the load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) improved to 85.1% from 84.1% in December 2022.

Impressive air traffic has led to a 5.8% appreciation in the CPA stock in the past year. This northward movement compares favorably with the 4.3% decline recorded by the Zacks Airline industry in the same time frame.

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Copa Holdings currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Given the buoyant traffic scenario, Copa Holdings is not the only airline to report impressive traffic numbers for December.

Brazilian carrier, Azul S.A. (AZUL - Free Report) reported double-digit year-over-year increases in traffic and capacity for December 2023. 

In December, the Brazilian carrier’s consolidated revenue passenger kilometers (a measure of air traffic) and available seat kilometers (a measure of capacity) increased 5.7% and 2.9%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. With consolidated passenger traffic growth outpacing capacity expansion, the load factor (the percentage of seats filled by passengers) improved to 79.8% from 77.6% in December 2022.

On the domestic front, with revenue passenger kilometers (4%) outpacing available seat kilometers (1.1%), the load factor increased to 79.2% from 77% in December 2022.

Internationally, revenue passenger kilometers and available seat kilometers increased 12.2% and 9.7%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. The load factor increased to 81.7% from 79.9% in December 2022.

Ryanair Holdings(RYAAY - Free Report) , a European carrier, also reported solid traffic numbers for December 2023, driven by upbeat air travel demand. The number of passengers ferried on RYAAY flights in December 2023 was 12.54 million, indicating that 9% more passengers flew than a year ago. The load factor was high at 91% in December 2023. RYAAY operated more than 72,500 flights in December, which is higher than the 66,400 flights flown in November 2023.


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