Continental Airlines, the first U.S. carrier to report June traffic, said Thursday that it filled 87.3 percent of its seats, setting a record for load factors for the month.
Its domestic flights saw 88.2 percent of seats filled with passengers, up 0.1 points from June 2009. International loads jumped 4 points to 86.5 percent. The biggest jump came on Pacific routes, up 12.2 points to 86.8 percent.
The carrier also said its passenger unit revenues - passenger revenue per available seat mile - increased 20.5 to 21.5 percent. Including regional partners, its passenger unit revenues increased 21 to 22 percent.
We note that one analyst, Michael Linenberg of Deutsche Bank, had forecast that Continental's passenger unit climbed 25 to 26 percent in June, with consolidated revenues up 26 to 27 percent.
Results from other airlines will wander in on Friday and through next week. They're expect to report high loads and nice increases in unit revenues.
