Virgin load factor slips in April

Virgin Australia load factors fell in April on increased capacity. (Paul Robson)

Virgin Australia’s total revenue load factor slipped by 3.6 percentage points to 77 per cent in April as domestic and international services both saw lower loads.

Across its total network, Virgin recorded a 6.7 per cent increase in passenger numbers, while capacity increased by 8.5 per cent.

Domestically, the carrier saw an increase in capacity of 15.1 per cent, while revenue passenger kilometres increased by 1.9 per cent, resulting in a fall in revenue load factor from 81.2 to 77.1 per cent. The carrier attributed the introduction of the Airbus A330-200s and replacement of the 737-700s with larger -800s to the increase in capacity.

International load factor decreased by 3.4 percentage points to 76.9 per cent as passengers carried dropped 1.4 per cent while capacity decreased by 0.7 per cent as scheduled maintenance took place on its Boeing 777 fleet.