PLAY carried 109 thousand passengers in August with an 86.9% load factor
PLAY carried 108,622 passengers in August, a similar number to the previous month when PLAY carried 109,956 passengers.
In August, the load factor was 86.9% compared to an 87.9% load factor in July and 79.2% in June. This development is primarily due to the addition of the transatlantic hub-and-spoke model connecting cities in Europe and the United States.
In the summer of 2022 PLAY has successfully launched many new destinations and seen very positive development of the existing destinations on the European side of the network. PLAY’s hub-and-spoke network is now up and running with positive effects on the business, including improved aircraft utilization, unit cost declining below our target of USD 4 cents and higher load factor. Forward bookings for the remainder of the year are tracking ahead of last year and it is safe to say that booking status for autumn and winter remains good.
On-time performance (OTP) in August was 89.2%, a testament of the professionalism of our operations team.
New U.S. Destination and largest hiring yet
In August, PLAY launched ticket sales to Washington Dulles (IAD) with daily operations starting on April 26, 2023. This new connection is the company’s fourth destination in the U.S., complementing its operations to Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS) and New York (SWF). PLAY will be the only low-cost carrier to connect Dulles International Airport to Europe.
On September 1, PLAY announced a recruitment drive to fill 150 cabin crew positions and 55 flight crew positions for 2023. This marks the largest hiring yet for PLAY and will support the company’s growth in the coming year as PLAY will operate ten aircraft next summer.
“After rapid expansion with many new destinations, the deployment of our VIA operations and receiving new aircraft, our operations are now stable and the business model has come into full effect. I am truly proud of the people working at PLAY who have managed to start this company during a volatile time in a complicated business environment. We came out of the development phase with a strong financial position and finally, the external conditions are more favorable after strong headwinds. We see bright times ahead and our booking status is strong. Two weeks ago we launched ticket sales to Washington Dulles which is a key destination to our expansion in the U.S. Immediately we saw great demand and bookings for next summer already exceeded our expectations. Our biggest objectives this coming winter are receiving four new aircraft, which will be added to our fleet next year, and hiring more crew members,” says Birgir Jónsson, PLAY’s CEO.
