Monthly civil aviation statistics, October 2023
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Released: 2023-12-19
Highlights
Major Canadian airlines carried 6.5 million passengers on scheduled and charter services in October, up 9.0% from the same month in 2022.
At 17.5 billion, passenger-kilometres in October 2023 reached pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels (compared with the same month of 2019) for the first time. As capacity was 20.6 billion available seat-kilometres, the passenger load factor was 84.8% in October 2023.
Operating revenue earned in October exceeded the level from the same month of 2019, before the pandemic, for the 11th consecutive month.
Continued strength in international travel
The last pandemic-related travel requirements for travellers entering Canada were removed in October 2022. One year later, the international sector continues to show strong signs of recovery. October 2023 was the sixth consecutive month when passenger counts on international flights were higher than in the same month of 2019, before the pandemic. The number of passengers on domestic flights, however, has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Passenger-kilometres reach pre-pandemic levels
Canadian Level I air carriers flew 6.5 million passengers on scheduled and charter services in October 2023. This was 1.3% below the October 2019 level—the smallest gap from pre-pandemic levels to date.
Chart 1
Passengers carried by Canadian Level I air carriers, October, 2019 to 2023
At 17.5 billion, the number of passenger-kilometres in October 2023 was 1.0% higher than in October 2019, thus reaching pre-pandemic levels for the first time during the recovery. Capacity, at 20.6 billion available seat-kilometres, remained 3.6% below the pre-pandemic level. As a result, the passenger load factor (the ratio of passenger-kilometres to available seat-kilometres) was 84.8% in October 2023, higher than the 81.0% load factor recorded in October 2019.
Each passenger travelled an average of 2 676 kilometres in October 2023, up 2.3% from the same month in 2019.
At 165,000, the number of flying hours in October 2023 was 7.3% below the pre-pandemic level in October 2019.
Operating revenue earned by Level I air carriers totalled $2.2 billion in October 2023, 17.8% higher than in the same month of 2019.
Chart 2
Passengers carried, Canadian air carriers, Level I
Chart 3
Passenger load factor, Canadian air carriers, Level I
Chart 4
Turbo fuel consumed, Canadian air carriers, Level I
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Note to readers
The Monthly Civil Aviation Survey covers all Canadian Level I air carriers: Air Canada (including Air Canada Rouge), Air Transat, Jazz, Porter, Sunwing and WestJet (including Swoop, WestJet Encore and WestJet Link).
The average passenger trip length is calculated by dividing the number of passenger-kilometres by the number of passengers. Trips across Canada and around the world are included in this calculation.
The data in this monthly release are not seasonally adjusted.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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