Fewer flights raise Air NZ load factor to 78.8pc

Air New Zealand says its overall load factor for February was 78.8 per cent, compared with 70.4 per cent a year earlier.

The increase was largely the result of lower capacity. Revenue passenger kilometres (the total number of passengers carried multiplied by the number of kilometres flown) rose 2.8 per cent but available seat kilometres (the number of seats available for sale times the distance flown) fell 8.1 per cent.

The airline attributed the higher RPKs to increased domestic traffic coinciding with higher inbound numbers.

The airline last month reported a load factor for January of 82 per cent, compared with 77 per cent a year earlier, and an unchanged December load factor of 73 per cent.

The load factor for the 12 months to February was 72.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, Air New Zealand will increase its code sharing agreements with Star Alliance partner Lufthansa from next month, adding the Air New Zealand code to a second daily Frankfurt-Los Angeles return service operated by Lufthansa.

The airline said the new service, starting on May 5, will significantly boost its ability to deliver European tourists to Australia and New Zealand.

They will connect with daily southbound flights from Los Angeles to Auckland and three weekly non-stop services to Sydney.

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