Low-cost Icelandic airline Play has reported its highest ever load factor of 91.6% for August 2024.
This is up 2.7% from the same time last year, with 22 out of its 32 destinations achieving a load factor above 90%.
The three-year-old airline carried 187,960 passengers during the month, which was up 1.4% compared to August 2023.
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Play also recorded 91.5% on-time performance, which it said was “significantly higher than its main competitors” and claimed to be “the most punctual airline” operating departures from Keflavik International Airport for 13 months in a row.
Just over a quarter of Play’s passengers were departing from Iceland (25.9%), while more than a third were flying to Iceland (35.6%) or were connecting passengers (38.5%).
Play highlighted “a notable increase” in the number of passengers flying from Iceland, hitting 18.4% growth to 41,112 passengers, representing a rising share of the local market compared to August 2023.
In August 2024, the airline launched two new destinations for Faro in Portugal and Aalborg in Denmark.
Einar Örn Ólafsson, Play Airlines chief executive, said the record month in terms of load factor showed the “services are well received in our markets” and that “demand has picked up”.
He added: “This achievement is especially notable as August can be a tricky month for sales due to the return to normal routines after summer vacations. Despite that, we managed to increase both our passenger numbers and our load factor.
“We’re particularly pleased to see the growth in our ‘to Iceland’ traffic year-over-year, as well as the significant increase in passengers flying from Iceland. This demonstrates that our local market is happy with our services, and our decision to offer a wide range of sunny destinations to Icelanders is paying off.”
Looking ahead, he revealed forward bookings were “trending ahead of last year”.