Air Canada continues to see “sustained recovery” on the small and medium-sized enterprise side, according to Mark Galardo, executive vice president of network planning and revenue management, speaking on a third-quarter earnings call. Managed corporate segment demand, he said, remains steady at 25% to 30% below 2019 levels.
The SME performance, along with capacity constraints, said Galardo, have continued to favor the yield environment, especially in international markets. Premium revenue continued to perform strongly and was up 21% from a year prior, with demand from both leisure and business markets, Galardo said.
The airline reported third-quarter revenue of more than $4.5 billion, a 19.2% increase year over year.
Third-quarter capacity increased 10% year over year, and the carrier also plans for a fourth-quarter increase of about 10% from a year prior. After some adjustments in 2023 resulting from regional pilot availability and supply chain pressures, plus the suspension of Air Canada’s Tel Aviv route, the carrier now expects full-year capacity to be up about 20% from 2022, compared with a prior projection of 21%.
Air Canada plans to move some capacity out of the North Atlantic and move it into the Pacific to take advantage of recovery opportunities in the region, Galardo said. The carrier will increase capacity to Japan and South Korea, add frequency to its new route to Bangkok and add an additional overnight flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong.
Image: Air Canada
