Alitalia growth continues in September, driven by long-haul

Alitalia’s long-haul revenues and passenger increase continue the growth trend and the Italian airline reported in September 2019 the twenty-third consecutive month of growth.

In the ninth month of this year, Alitalia recorded on intercontinental routes 1.8 per cent increase in revenues and 3.6 per cent growth in passenger carried (267,575 travellers on long-haul flights in September), compared to the same month of 2018.

Alitalia’s passenger revenues in September amounted at 259.7 euro million (-2.7 per cent compared to September 2018), despite an 11.2 per cent reduction in the domestic flights capacity, mainly due to the closure of Milan Linate airport for works on runway.

In September Alitalia carried 1,951,191 passengers with 81.6% load factor, slightly increased versus the same month of the previous year.

In the first nine months of 2019, the Italian airline reported 1.4 per cent increase in passenger revenues, compared to the same nine months of 2018, thanks to the excellent performance of the intercontinental sector which, in the same period, increased by 4.3 per cent.

As of 30 September 2019, the Airline’s liquidity amounted to 310 million euros (plus the deposit at IATA), compared to 361 million euros at the end of August. The reduction of 51 million euros is mainly due to the decrease in the volume of prepaid tickets, in line with the normal seasonality of the industry.

With 82.5 per cent of flights landed on schedule, Alitalia has confirmed itself as the second most punctual airline in Europe in the first nine months of 2019. The result was certified by FlightStats, the authoritative US independent society which drafts the list of the major airlines in the world for on-time performance, comparing the data of equivalent airlines for size and network.