WestJet 3-month TSX chart

WestJet said Thursday it flew with a higher percentage of occupied seats on its aircraft in January than it did a year ago, but sounded a cautious note about the future.

The Calgary-based discount airline said its January load factor — the percentage of its available seats filled by passengers — rose to a record 76.8 per cent last month, up 0.6 percentage points from January 2007.

The company's available seat capacity shot up more than nine per cent year over year.

"We are pleased with our increased load factor for the month of January," said Sean Durfy, WestJet president and CEO. "Our traffic results demonstrate the success of our efforts to continue to profitably grow."

However, Durfy said the airline expects to see a year-over-year decline in its revenue per available seat mile for the first quarter of this year.

"Given the continuing economic downturn, we are cautious with respect to our year-over-year revenue per available seat mile predictions," he said.

In the first quarter of 2008, the airline said its revenue per available seat mile grew by a record eight per cent from the previous year.