Article content

Increased passenger traffic and lower operating costs are driving profitability at Canadian airlines, with Air Canada and WestJet both posting robust second quarter profits that blew past expectations.

With the launch of 16 international and U.S. routes in the second quarter, Canada’s largest airline reported robust traffic growth of 13.6 per cent, driving passenger revenues up by 11.9 per cent to $3.52 billion. On June 29, Air Canada flew nearly 167,000 passengers, setting an all-time record that chief executive Calin Rovinescu expects will be surpassed over the upcoming August long-weekend.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Canadian airlines’s profits soar on record passenger traffic Back to video

“We have increasing confidence that our business plan can indeed deliver what we indeed expect it to, regardless of fuel prices, foreign exchange or other extraneous factors,” Rovinescu said in a conference call with analysts Tuesday.

“Demand continues to be robust in a stable fuel and pricing environment as we move into what has historically been our most important quarter, given the travel demands and patterns of our North American customers.”