Spirit Airlines passenger traffic up 26 percent in Q1

Spirit Airlines recently announced its traffic results for the first three months of 2012. The airline was quite upbeat at the results and said that Spirit Airlines flights carried impressive number of passengers in Q1.

The airline in a statement said that its passenger traffic registered a growth of 26 percent in the first quarter of the year, although demand (Revenue Passenger Miles) was up just 19 percent, indicating a decrease in the average sector length being flown.

According to media reports, all of the US carriers have announced their traffic figures for the first three months of this year. Some of larger niche carriers in the country have reported a significant growth, whereas the four remaining US legacy carriers continue to report modest growth.

Allegiant Air and JetBlue Airways are among other carriers to have reported significant passenger traffic growth. Allegiant Air stated that it had a good first quarter with passenger numbers up 16.8 percent and RPMs increasing by 17.2 percent. JetBlue Airways, while reporting its Q1 passenger results, said that its revenue passengers increased 13.5 percent and RPMs grew 14.2 percent.