CALGARY – It was a healthy looking June for WestJet, which announced a record load factor of 80.4%, an increase of 3.5 percentage points year over year.

Revenue passenger miles (RPMs), or traffic, increased 12.3% year over year, and capacity (measured in available seat miles, or ASMs) grew 7.5% over the same period. In the second quarter of 2016, the ******* achieved a load factor of 80.8%, an increase of 2.7 percentage points year over year, and flew a record 5.3 million guests. This represents a year-over-year increase of 7.0%, or approximately 345,000 additional guests.

“We are very pleased with our double-digit traffic growth as we flew a record number of guests in the second quarter and also celebrated WestJet Encore’s third birthday,” said WestJet President and CEO Gregg Saretsky. “As we transition into our busy summer season, I want to thank our almost 12,000 WestJetters for their commitment to providing our brand of friendly caring service each and every day.”

In June, WestJet began flying new limited-addition, non-stop seasonal peak summer travel routes between Brandon, MB and Toronto, ON, and between Vancouver, BC and both Hamilton, ON and London, ON. Also in June, the ******* announced new seasonal non-stop service connecting Edmonton, AB and Hamilton, ON, and Winnipeg, MB with Kelowna, BC.

In May, WestJet launched its new non-stop service between London Gatwick and six Canadian cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, and St. John’s. London Gatwick is the *******’s third transatlantic destination. In 2014, it launched non-stop service from St. John’s to Dublin, followed by service between Halifax and Glasgow in 2015.