Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, S.A.B. de C.V. (PAC) has announced the total passenger traffic for the month of March 2010.
 
During the month, passenger traffic increased 3.7% year over year, with domestic passenger traffic increasing 5.9% and international passenger traffic increasing only 0.6%.
 
The increase was attributable to The Holy Week, which took place in March instead of April in the previous year. During January and February of the first quarter of fiscal 2010, passenger traffic decreased significantly.
 
During January, total passenger traffic declined 1.7%, with domestic traffic decreasing 2.6% and international traffic decreasing 0.3%.
 
During February, total passenger traffic fell 4.5% year over year. Domestic and international passenger traffic decreased 6.0% and 2.4% respectively.
 
The decrease is the after-effect of the global recession that took place in 2008, when oil prices reached their peak of $150 per barrel. H1N1 virus, which broke out in 2009, was another reason for the decline in passenger traffic for Mexican airlines such as PAC.
 
However, currently the markets are picking up and oil prices have fallen to $86 per barrel. This can be a favorable situation for the entire industry and PAC in particular.
 
The industry has shown and likely to show some improvements in 2010, but it will take years to recover the losses incurred in 2008 and 2009. Thus, the company will continue posting lower passenger traffic for the next couple of quarters. We reiterate our Neutral recommendation on the stock
Read the full analyst report on “PAC”
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