Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) reported that its traffic in August 2014 increased 4.9% from August 2013, on a capacity decrease of 0.2%.
Traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles or RPMs, rose 4.9% to 9.62 billion from 9.17 billion RPMs in the same month last year.
But, Capacity, measured in available seat miles or ASMs, edged down 0.2% to 11.25 billion from last year's 11.27 billion ASMs.
Monthly load factor was 85.5 percent, compared to 81.3 percent in August 2013.
The company said it carried 9.44 million passengers in August 2014, which was 3.7 percent higher than 9.11 million passengers carried last year.
For August 2014, passenger revenue per ASM (PRASM) is estimated to have increased in the five to six percent range as compared to August 2013.
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