British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group PLC (LON:IAG) said passenger numbers in October grew by 7.9% compared to a year ago but the load factor edged slightly lower.
The group, which also owns the Aer Lingus, Vueling and Iberia airlines, carried 10.03 million passengers last month, up from 9.30 million last year, with domestic and European flights accounting for most of the total.
The load factor – the ratio of passengers to seats available – dipped 0.1 percentage points to 83.3%.
Revenue passenger kilometres – a measure of the number of revenue-paying passengers – increased 6.6% while available seat kilometres rose 6.7%.
READ: British Airways parent IAG sees annual profits €200mln up on last year
In late October the company said it expects full-year profits to rise by some €200mln after it reported a strong third quarter performance despite significant fuel costs and foreign exchange headwinds.
It reported a 0.7% rise in operating profit to €1.46bn in the three months to the end of September on revenues of €7.14bn, as stronger ticket prices helped offset a 15% rise in fuel costs during the period.
Earlier in October, British Airways announced that it would become the only carrier to fly direct between Europe and the South Carolina city of Charleston. The flights will operate twice-weekly from Heathrow starting on 4 April 2019.
IAG said the new route will take the number of US destinations British Airways flies to from London next summer up to 29. Daily flights offered by British Airways and American Airlines as part of their transatlantic joint business will increase to about 73 per day.