Monthly civil aviation statistics, June 2022

Released: 2022-08-26

Highlights

Major Canadian airlines carried 6.0 million passengers on scheduled and charter services in June, reaching 6 million for the first time since February 2020. This was more than seven times the number of passengers carried in June 2021 and over four-fifths (83.3%) of the June 2019 level.

With traffic at 16.0 billion passenger-kilometres and capacity at 19.1 billion available seat-kilometres, the passenger load factor (the ratio of passenger-kilometres to available seat-kilometres) was 83.6% in June, surpassing 80% for the first time since February 2020 and the closest it has reached to pre-pandemic levels.

The $2.0 billion operating revenue earned in June was 87.7% of that earned before the pandemic in June 2019.

As travel ramps up, more delays at airports

In June, challenges continued across air transportation as a result of the rapid increase in passenger numbers and staff shortages. From January to June, the number of passengers carried by Level I air carriers more than doubled. The situation with line-ups, delays, cancellations and lost luggage worsened in June compared with May, with the largest airports the most affected.

New recovery milestones reached in June

Canadian Level I air carriers flew 6.0 million passengers on scheduled and charter services in June, reaching 83.3% of the pre-pandemic level reported in June 2019. This was a higher proportion than the 77.3% recorded in May (compared with May 2019) and the fifth consecutive month in which proportions relative to pre-pandemic levels have grown, after dropping in January.

Infographic 1 
Passengers carried by Canadian Level I air carriers, monthly, 2019 to 2022

With the summer travel season starting, passenger volumes typically increase from May to June; from 2015 to 2019, the average increase was 5.7%. In 2022, however, the monthly increase was 13.7% as the recovery continued. Domestic and international flights contributed a similar amount to the monthly increase.

With traffic at 16.0 billion passenger-kilometres and capacity at 19.1 billion available seat-kilometres, the passenger load factor was 83.6% in June, the highest since December 2019 and within three percentage points of the 86.3% recorded in June 2019.

Each passenger travelled an average of 2,658 kilometres in June, down 5.6% from June 2019.

At 156,000, the number of flying hours in June was 83.0% of the pre-pandemic level.

Operating revenue earned by Level I air carriers totalled $2.0 billion in June, 87.7% of the $2.3 billion earned in the same month in 2019, pre-pandemic.

Chart 1 
Passengers carried, Canadian air carriers, Level I

Chart 2 
Passenger load factor, Canadian air carriers, Level I

Chart 3 
Turbo fuel consumed, Canadian air carriers, Level I

Contact information

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