Continental Airline’s October Traffic Ramps Up

Continental Airlines’ load factor rose 2 percentage points from a year ago to 79.3 percent, setting a record for October, the airline said.

Continental said revenue per available seat mile increased between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent for the month, as demand remained strong in the traditionally weak period for air travel.

Growth looked likely to have improved a little from September, when tighter security measures kept some travelers at home. In September, revenue per available seat mile, or unit revenues, grew 4.8 percent over the same month a year before.

Continental’s revenue passenger miles, or traffic, rose 9.5 percent to 7.3 billion, while available seat miles, a measure of capacity, rose 6.8 percent to 9.2 billion, the Houston-based carrier said.

Continental, one of the few traditional airlines to be adding capacity, is usually the first major carrier to report monthly operational figures, serving as a barometer for industry performance.