CALGARY – It was a healthy looking June for WestJet, which announced a record load factor of 80.4%, an increase of 3.5 percentage points year over year.

Revenue passenger miles (RPMs), or traffic, increased 12.3% year over year, and capacity (measured in available seat miles, or ASMs) grew 7.5% over the same period. In the second quarter of 2016, the airline achieved a load factor of 80.8%, an increase of 2.7 percentage points year over year, and flew a record 5.3 million guests. This represents a year-over-year increase of 7.0%, or approximately 345,000 additional guests.

“We are very pleased with our double-digit traffic growth as we flew a record number of guests in the second quarter and also celebrated WestJet Encore’s third birthday,” said WestJet President and CEO Gregg Saretsky. “As we transition into our busy summer season, I want to thank our almost 12,000 WestJetters for their commitment to providing our brand of friendly caring service each and every day.”

In June, WestJet began flying new limited-addition, non-stop seasonal peak summer travel routes between Brandon, MB and Toronto, ON, and between Vancouver, BC and both Hamilton, ON and London, ON. Also in June, the airline announced new seasonal non-stop service connecting Edmonton, AB and Hamilton, ON, and Winnipeg, MB with Kelowna, BC.

In May, WestJet launched its new non-stop service between London Gatwick and six Canadian cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, and St. John’s. London Gatwick is the airline’s third transatlantic destination. In 2014, it launched non-stop service from St. John’s to Dublin, followed by service between Halifax and Glasgow in 2015.