Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) transported 15,968,833 passengers systemwide in 2013 – a 0.9% increase on the previous year (2012: 15,819,558). Total available-seat-kilometre (ASK) capacity for the year was raised 3.7%; and the increase was fully absorbed by the growth in traffic volume, which was up 4.7% in revenue-passenger-kilometre (RPK) terms. Systemwide seat load factor improved accordingly, from the 82.9% of 2012 to 83.7%. Total flights operated amounted to 146,436, a 2.9% decline.

Seat load factor on intercontinental services amounted to 87.3%, a 0.2-percentage-point improvement on 2012. Intercontinental ASK capacity was up 6.1%, while RPK traffic volume was 6.3% above its prior-year level.a

ASK capacity for SWISS’s European network was 1.1% below its 2012 equivalent, while RPK traffic volume rose 0.9%. Seat load factor stood at 76.2%, compared to 74.7% for the previous year.

Annual cargo load factor for the airfreight business of Swiss WorldCargo slipped 0.4 percentage points, from the 79.3% of 2012 to 78.9%. But total cargo sales were a 3.2% improvement year-on-year.

In December 2013 a total of 1,205,128 customers travelled with SWISS (compared to 1,183,657 in December 2012). Total flights operated showed a 3.2% decline. Systemwide seat load factor stood at 81.0% (2012: 79.7%), while cargo load factor amounted to 81.9%, compared to 82.4% for December 2012.