Icelandair sets October seat-occupancy record as passenger numbers fall

Icelandair’s seat occupancy reached 86.1% in October, its highest ever for the month, despite carrying 5% fewer passengers than a year earlier, mbl.is reported. The airline carried 439,000 passengers.

Of those passengers, 36% were travelling to Iceland, 21% from Iceland, 38% were connecting passengers and 5% were flying domestically. Numbers fell by 8% for passengers travelling to Iceland, 2% for those travelling from Iceland and 6% for connecting passengers. Domestic passenger numbers rose by 3%.

Capacity, measured in available seat kilometres, decreased by 7% year on year. On-time performance was 84.5%, up 3.2 percentage points. Sold block hours on charter flights increased by 12%, while freight traffic, measured in tonne-kilometres, rose by 4%.

Carbon emissions per tonne-kilometre increased by 1%. Icelandair attributed the rise mainly to weather in Iceland, as well as unfavourable winds that required fuel stops on routes to and from several destinations in the United States, which the airline described as unusual.

Chief executive Bogi Nils Bogason said the airline had adjusted its flight schedule in response to steep increases in oil prices, reducing flights and accelerating the phase-out of older aircraft. He said the airline had set a seat-occupancy record at the same time.

Icelandair also said it began flying to Tromsø in Norway in October, adding a winter destination to its network. During the month, it received a Global SABRE award for marketing and public relations campaign of the year and the Business Environment Award for its work to reduce its environmental and climate impact.