ATLANTA, Aug. 5, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) today reported traffic results for July 2008. International traffic increased 15.0 percent year over year on a 16.2 percent increase in capacity, and load factor declined 0.9 points. As a result of the airline's global expansion, a record number of passengers flew internationally on Delta during the month of July. The number of international, Atlantic and Pacific passengers increased 8.9 percent, 14.7 percent and 67.9 percent, respectively, versus the same period last year.
Delta's domestic traffic in July 2008 decreased 6.8 percent year over year on 7.6 percent lower capacity. Domestic load factor increased 0.7 points compared to July 2007. In addition, system traffic in July 2008 increased 0.7 percent over July 2007 on a capacity increase of 0.9 percent. Delta's system load factor was flat compared to the same period last year.
"Solid demand and a favorable pricing environment yielded another month of strong international unit revenue growth on top of double-digit capacity increases, demonstrating the continued benefits from Delta's multiyear network restructuring, aggressive yield management efforts and improved product," said Glen Hauenstein, Delta's executive vice president -- Network Planning and Revenue Management. "Passenger revenue growth, combined with an unwavering focus on our 2008 initiatives -- including growth in cargo and ancillary revenues, and increased fees -- resulted in strong top-line revenue growth in the month of July."
Detailed traffic and capacity follow.
Delta Air Lines operates service to more worldwide destinations than any airline with Delta and Delta Connection flights to 312 destinations in 61 countries. Delta has added more international capacity than any major U.S. airline during the last two years and is the leader across the Atlantic with flights to 44 trans-Atlantic markets. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offers 393 weekly flights to 47 destinations. Delta's marketing alliances also allow customers to earn and redeem SkyMiles on more than 16,000 flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights and services. Including its SkyTeam and worldwide codeshare partners, Delta offers flights to 500 worldwide destinations in 105 countries. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and flight status at delta.com.
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Delta Air Lines Monthly Traffic Results(a) July 2008 July 2007 Change --------------------------------------------------------------------- RPMs (000): Domestic 7,515,775 8,067,086 (6.8%) Delta Mainline 5,932,226 6,361,599 (6.7%) Comair 394,486 421,550 (6.4%) Contract Carriers 1,189,063 1,283,937 (7.4%) International 4,920,937 4,277,230 15.0% Latin America 1,134,550 1,105,966 2.6% Delta Mainline 1,081,902 1,044,597 3.6% Comair 1,523 708 115.1% Contract Carriers 51,125 60,661 (15.7%) Atlantic 3,528,464 3,022,884 16.7% Pacific 257,923 148,380 73.8% System 12,436,712 12,344,316 0.7% ASMs (000): Domestic 8,486,384 9,181,827 (7.6%) Delta Mainline 6,586,371 7,115,924 (7.4%) Comair 491,031 520,053 (5.6%) Contract Carriers 1,408,982 1,545,850 (8.9%) International 5,851,510 5,034,342 16.2% Latin America 1,363,258 1,308,959 4.1% Delta Mainline 1,296,490 1,231,029 5.3% Comair 1,787 869 105.6% Contract Carriers 64,981 77,061 (15.7%) Atlantic 4,163,010 3,546,341 17.4% Pacific 325,242 179,042 81.7% System 14,337,894 14,216,169 0.9% Load Factor Domestic 88.6% 87.9% 0.7 pts Delta Mainline 90.1% 89.4% 0.7 pts Comair 80.3% 81.1% (0.8) pts Contract Carriers 84.4% 83.1% 1.3 pts International 84.1% 85.0% (0.9) pts Latin America 83.2% 84.5% (1.3) pts Delta Mainline 83.4% 84.9% (1.5) pts Comair 85.2% 81.5% 3.7 pts Contract Carriers 78.7% 78.7% (0.0) pts Atlantic 84.8% 85.2% (0.4) pts Pacific 79.3% 82.9% (3.6) pts System 86.7% 86.8% (0.1) pts Passengers Boarded 10,065,345 10,399,143 (3.2%) Completion Factor 98.0% 98.6% (0.6) pts Cargo Ton Miles: Mail 6,459,888 4,502,296 43.5% Freight 101,060,548 89,093,381 13.4% Total System 107,520,436 93,595,677 14.9% Endnote: (a) Results reflect operations under our contract carrier arrangements. Delta Air Lines Year to Date Traffic Results (a) July 2008 July 2007 Change --------------------------------------------------------------------- RPMs (000): Domestic 46,781,930 48,387,339 (3.3%) Delta Mainline 36,398,341 37,892,761 (3.9%) Comair 2,609,882 2,657,404 (1.8%) Contract Carriers 7,773,707 7,837,174 (0.8%) International 26,127,938 22,747,180 14.9% Latin America 6,749,087 6,342,098 6.4% Delta Mainline 6,376,203 6,049,033 5.4% Comair 7,274 6,252 16.3% Contract Carriers 365,610 286,813 27.5% Atlantic 18,057,897 15,643,683 15.4% Pacific 1,320,954 761,399 73.5% Total System 72,909,868 71,134,519 2.5% ASMs (000): Domestic 56,478,943 58,998,485 (4.3%) Delta Mainline 43,341,721 45,543,293 (4.8%) Comair 3,472,181 3,553,666 (2.3%) Contract Carriers 9,665,041 9,901,526 (2.4%) International 32,686,414 28,624,216 14.2% Latin America 8,416,141 8,409,503 0.1% Delta Mainline 7,931,557 7,998,419 (0.8%) Comair 8,916 7,841 13.7% Contract Carriers 475,668 403,243 18.0% Atlantic 22,551,178 19,317,766 16.7% Pacific 1,719,095 896,947 91.7% Total System 89,165,357 87,622,701 1.8% Load Factor Domestic 82.8% 82.0% 0.8 pts Delta Mainline 84.0% 83.2% 0.8 pts Comair 75.2% 74.8% 0.4 pts Contract Carriers 80.4% 79.2% 1.2 pts International 79.9% 79.5% 0.4 pts Latin America 80.2% 75.4% 4.8 pts Delta Mainline 80.4% 75.6% 4.8 pts Comair 81.6% 79.7% 1.9 pts Contract Carriers 76.9% 71.1% 5.8 pts Atlantic 80.1% 81.0% (0.9) pts Pacific 76.8% 84.9% (8.1) pts Total System 81.8% 81.2% 0.6 pts Passengers Boarded 63,110,627 64,031,430 (1.4%) Cargo Ton Miles: Mail 40,430,278 33,118,519 22.1% Freight 677,365,377 604,632,795 12.0% Total System 717,795,655 637,751,314 12.6% Endnote: (a) Results reflect operations under our contract carrier arrangements.