US Airways January revenue measure up 3 percent

US Airways boosts January passenger revenue 3 percent on traffic growth of 5 percent

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- US Airways Group Inc. said on Tuesday that a key measure of revenue rose 3 percent in January on strong traffic growth.

The airline said the gains in what it collected for each seat flown one mile came as traffic jumped 5 percent, including both mainline flights and those on feeder carriers. Demand for domestic and flights to Latin America each grew almost 6 percent, offsetting a 1.2 percent traffic decline on flights across the Atlantic.

Flying capacity grew only 1.8 percent.

Its planes were more full because traffic rose faster than flying capacity. Occupancy rose 2.5 percentage points to 80.7 percent. Even flights across the Atlantic were more full, because US Airways cut capacity there by 7.9 percent, more than offsetting the decline in traffic.