CALGARY — March was a big month for WestJet, which just announced a load factor of 85.6%, an increase of 1.5 percentage points year over year.

Traffic increased 7.0% year over year, while capacity grew 5.2% over the same period. The airline flew a record 2.2 million guests in March, a year-over-year increase of 6.7% or approximately 136,000 additional guests.

“We are pleased to see such strong year-over-year growth as 6.1 million guests chose to fly with us in the first quarter,” said WestJet President and CEO Ed Sims. “This new record for the quarter is all the more remarkable given the degree of disruption during the challenging winter season. My sincere thanks go out to the 13,000 WestJetters for their unwavering dedication over that time.”

In March, WestJet officially launched inaugural service to Mexico City form Calgary and Vancouver, further solidifying our position as the Canadian airline with the most flights to Mexico. WestJet also became the first Canadian airline operating nonstop from Calgary to Denver.