China Southern Airlines has posted a 10.6% growth in overall passenger traffic in January, driven by strong growth in the international segment.

Domestic RPKs were up 8.9%, regional PRKs grew 18.6% and international RPKs rose 22.2%, says the Guangzhou-based carrier.

The total number of passengers grew 7% to 5.6 million in real terms, adds the SkyTeam alliance member. Domestic passenger numbers grew 6.3% to 5.1 million, regional passenger numbers rose 12% to 115,040 and international passenger numbers increased 15.5% to 362,930.

Total capacity, as measured by ASKs, rose 8.6%. Domestic ASKs increased 7.1%, regional ASKs were up 16.3% and international ASKs grew 16.7%.

As a result, the overall passenger load factor grew 1.4 percentage points to 75.9%, says the carrier. The domestic passenger load factor increased 1.2 percentage points to 77.2%, the regional passenger load factor rose 1.4 percentage points to 69.4%, and the international passenger load factor grew 3.1 percentage points to 69%.

On the cargo front, overall revenue freight tonne kilometers (RFTKs) grew 121.8%, it adds.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news