CALGARY — WestJet saw passenger traffic increase by 8.2% in August but, with capacity up 11.3% during the month, load factor slipped 2.3 percentage points to 82.2%.

“We continue to direct the majority of our new capacity toward our southern destinations, as we find the demand for leisure travel continues to be robust,” said WestJet president and CEO Gregg Saretsky. “Additionally, our increased focus on the business travel segment, a key part of our growth strategy, has begun generating a positive response from corporate sales.

“Business and leisure travellers are benefiting from the value of our new fare structure as evidenced by the strong traffic growth. We still expect a positive increase this quarter in year-over-year revenue per available seat mile.”