MONTREAL — For the month of March, Air Canada reported a system wide traffic growth of 1.4% on a capacity increase of 3.6%.

Air Canada’s system load factor was 81.7% versus 83.5% in March 2013, a decrease of 1.8 percentage points. Air Canada reports traffic results on a system-wide basis, including Air Canada rouge, which began operations on July 1, 2013, and regional airlines from which Air Canada purchases capacity.

According to Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer, “for the month, traffic grew overall by 1.4% led by the U.S. transborder market, and for the quarter traffic grew 2.9% with increases in all markets Air Canada serves. During the first quarter, we continued to execute our priorities to build a sustainably profitable airline. Based on the ongoing positive results of our cost transformation and revenue enhancement initiatives, we now expect EBITDAR for the first quarter to be in line with last year’s level for the same period. In addition, based on forward bookings, we expect a strong summer travel season ahead”.