LIAT releases strong performance figures

LIAT has announced strong network performance figures, in terms of passenger numbers, revenue and yield, when comparing figures for July 2015 with the same period in 2014.

Average load factors for the month of July were just under 76 per cent.{{more}}

Revenue per available seat mile, a key aviation performance indicator, has shown growth of 16 per cent in the past year.

The airline’s positive performance has resulted in the best month for LIAT in recent years, with a net profit declared in July 2015.

The highlights which have contributed to this strong performance include: the Barbados-Guyana route, which saw strong growth in both revenue and passenger numbers versus July 2014; Antigua-Dominica, Barbados-St Vincent and Tortola-St Maarten routes also performed well and showed impressive growth.

Of the 17 destinations served by LIAT, the top five destinations with the biggest increase in passenger arrivals were: Guyana arrivals increased by 62 per cent; Tortola saw growth of 32 per cent in passenger arrivals; Barbados, with arrivals increasing by 15 per cent; St Maarten arrivals increased by 15 per cent year on year; and Antigua saw steady growth of nine per cent.

The best performing route for LIAT was Barbados-Guyana, which nearly doubled its revenue year on year, followed by Tortola-St Maarten, which generated an additional 57 per cent of revenue year on year.

“The new non-stop routes which were launched in mid-July are already developing well, with load factors on all routes averaging over 73 per cent, and showing positive trends. This steady performance is expected to continue over the rest of the Summer. The highest load factors were on the new Barbados-Trinidad and Barbados-Guyana nonstop services, achieving well over 80 per cent, and the highest yielding route was Tortola-San Juan.

“This strong performance has been coupled with a growth of 8 per cent in daily aircraft utilisation, which is the measure of hours flown daily by LIAT’s ATR fleet,” a release from LIAT said.