Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT) recently announced disappointing traffic figures for July 2024. Scheduled traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles, dropped by 1.7% compared to the same period last year. While the company expanded capacity, measured in available seat miles, by 2.4% year-over-year, the increase in capacity outpaced the growth in traffic. This resulted in a decline in the load factor, which is the percentage of seats filled by passengers, falling to 87.5% in July 2024 from 91.2% a year ago. Despite the decrease in traffic, the total number of scheduled departures rose by 2.7% in July 2024, and the average stage length (miles) also increased by 0.3% year-over-year.
On a system-wide level, which includes both scheduled service and fixed fee contract flights, Allegiant carried 1.8% fewer passengers in July 2024 compared to the previous year. The system-wide capacity expanded by 3.2% during the same period. The fuel price per gallon in July 2024 is estimated to have been $2.84. ALGT currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
While Allegiant struggled to maintain passenger numbers, other airlines reported robust traffic figures. Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA), saw a double-digit increase in revenue passenger miles in July 2024 due to strong travel demand. To meet this surge in demand, CPA expanded its capacity by 11.3% year-over-year. Although revenue passenger miles grew by 9.5%, it couldn’t keep pace with the capacity expansion. Consequently, the load factor declined to 87.6% in July 2024 from 89% a year ago.
Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY), a major European carrier, also reported strong traffic numbers for July 2024, driven by positive air travel demand. The airline carried 20.2 million passengers in July 2024, representing an 8% year-over-year increase. This figure is significantly higher than the number of passengers carried in the previous months, with June reporting 19.3 million, May with 18.9 million, April with 17.3 million, and March with 13.6 million passengers. The load factor in July 2024 remained flat at 96% year-over-year, indicating a consistent demand for Ryanair’s flights. This figure surpassed the load factors reported in June (95%), May (95%), April (92%), and March (93%). RYAAY operated over 110,500 flights in July 2024, a significant increase compared to the previous months. However, nearly 651 flights were canceled due to air traffic control delays.
These contrasting results highlight the diverse performance of airlines in the current travel environment. While some carriers experience strong growth, others are struggling to keep pace with capacity expansion. This underscores the complex dynamics within the airline industry and the need for careful analysis to understand the factors driving performance.
