Friday, March 8, 2024
In February 2024, PLAY airlines experienced a notable surge in passenger numbers, carrying 106,042 individuals, marking a substantial 66% increase compared to February of the previous year, during which PLAY transported 63,949 passengers. This growth coincided with an enhanced load factor of 81% for February, up from 76.9% in the same period last year. The uptick in load factor signals a resurgence in demand, rebounding from a prior decline attributed to misrepresented global news coverage surrounding seismic activity in Reykjanes peninsula last autumn.
Among PLAY’s February travelers, 27.9% originated from Iceland, 40% were bound for Iceland, and 32.1% constituted connecting passengers (VIA). Notably, the North American market witnessed a substantial load factor increase from 67% in February 2023 to 78% in February 2024. Furthermore, destinations such as Paris and Barcelona boasted load factors exceeding 90%, while Alicante hovered around the 90% mark.
In terms of operational performance, 90% of PLAY’s flights in February arrived punctually, contributing to an impressive year-to-date on-time performance of 84.1%.
Expanding its service offerings, PLAY has commenced ticket sales for scheduled flights to Madeira, Portugal, and Marrakech, Morocco. Flights to Madeira will commence on October 15 with weekly operations on Tuesdays, while flights to Marrakech will begin on October 17, operating up to twice a week on Thursdays and Sundays. Additionally, PLAY has augmented its route network by introducing Vilnius, Lithuania, and Split, Croatia, as new destinations.
February marked a period of robust sales for PLAY, featuring a record-breaking sales week at the month’s outset. Moreover, the month witnessed the highest daily revenue in PLAY’s history, underscoring a notable resurgence in demand. Forward bookings for the year indicate a promising outlook.
Birgir Jónsson, CEO of PLAY:
“February was a pretty good month for PLAY. We see that the demand is returning to the market after a challenging period following the misleading international news coverage around the recent seismic activity that cooled demand for Iceland as a destination over the last months.
However, in February, we saw the tide beginning to turn, our load factor of 81% was 4 percentage points higher than it was in February last year. At the same time, the number of passengers grew by 66% to 106 thousand. Our excellent operational teams and crews achieved 90% on-time performance, which is a true feat during winter operations in Iceland and yet another testament to their professionalism and skill.
We also recently announced a few new destinations. Split, Vilnius, Madeira, and Marrakech were commercially launched, and in the case of Marrakech, we are very proud to introduce the first scheduled flights between Iceland and Africa.
We reached a significant milestone in our financing when we secured share subscription commitments in the amount of ISK 4000 million (around 30m USD) from both existing and new shareholders. Once this financing phase is completed and approved by our annual general meeting in March, we are ready to enter our next growth phase, well-financed and laser-focused on achieving our future goals.
When comparing the upcoming summer season to last year, we see significantly higher load factors and yields and continued growth in the vitally important ancillary revenue stream. We at PLAY, therefore, have many things to be happy about, and we will all strive to keep our costs low, grow our revenue, and keep on giving our passengers quality service at a great price.”
Tags: Alicante, barcelona, operational performance, Paris
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Sunday, April 28, 2024
