CALGARY — The WestJet Group has reached a new record for passengers flown in a single day, breaking its previous record set in 2017.

On Aug. 7, an estimated 80,219 guests flew across its network, surpassing its previous record of 79,961 set on Dec. 22 last year.

“The WestJet Group continues to grow our guest numbers as our strategic plan is executed,” said Ed Sims, WestJet President and CEO. “We continue to expand our connectivity while providing more choice for Canadian travellers. Thank you to our 13,000 WestJetters for their part in our success and thank you to our guests for choosing WestJet, WestJet Encore, WestJet Link and Swoop for their summer travel plans.”

The record-setting day comes on the heels of WestJet’s July 2018 traffic results, which show a load factor of 85.2%, a decrease of 0.4 percentage points year over year. Revenue passenger miles (RPMs), or traffic, increased 8.2% year over year, while capacity (measured in available seat miles, or ASMs) grew 8.7% over the same period.

In total, the carrier welcomed an additional 144,000 guests in July, a year-over-year increase of 6.5%.

In July, WestJet was named North America’s Best Low-Cost Airline at Skytrax’s World Airline Awards for 2018. It also signed an agreement to create a transborder joint venture arrangement with Delta Air Lines that will include expanded code sharing, more closely aligned frequent flyer program and reciprocal elite benefits, joint growth across their U.S./Canada transborder network, and co-location at key hubs.