Copa Holdings, S.A. CPA, based in Panama City, Panama, is gaining from upbeat passenger volumes. The latest positive update from the Latin American carrier came when it reported robust traffic numbers for September 2026 on the back of upbeat air travel demand. Driven by high passenger volumes, revenue passenger miles (RPM: a measure of air traffic) improved on a year-over-year basis in September.
To match the demand swell, CPA is increasing its capacity. In September, available seat miles (a measure of capacity) increased 15.7% year over year. RPM also improved 17.1% year over year. Since traffic growth outpaced capacity expansion, the load factor (the percentage of seats filled by passengers) rose to 87.9% from 86.9% in September 2025.
CPA’s Zacks Rank & Price Performance
CPA currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Shares of Copa Holdings have gained 11.6% so far this year compared with the 10.5% loss of the Zacks Airline industry.
CPA Stock’s YTD Price Comparison
September 2026 Traffic of Other Airline Companies
Apart from LATAM Airlines, other airline companies that have reported traffic numbers for September 2026 are Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion VLRS and Ryanair Holdings RYAAY.
Volaris
Mexican carrier, Volaris reported a year-over-year increase in revenue passenger miles (RPMs), a measure of air traffic, for September.
VLRS reported a 1.9% year-over-year increase in consolidated capacity (measured in available seat miles). Consolidated traffic, measured in revenue passenger-miles (RPM), grew 3.1% year over year. Since traffic growth has outpaced capacity expansion, the load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) rose 1 percentage point year over year to 84.4%.
On the domestic front, RPMs decreased 3.8% and ASMs (Available Seat Miles) fell 3.2% from the September 2025 levels. The domestic load factor in September was 88.2%, a decline of 0.6 percentage points from the year-ago levels.
Internationally, RPM increased 14.2% year over year, while ASM rose 8.8% year over year. Since traffic growth outpaced capacity expansion, the international load factor increased 3.8 percentage points on a year-over-year basis to 79.8%.
During the month of September 2026, VLRS transported 2.47 million passengers, representing a 4.2% year-over-year increase.
Ryanair Holdings
European carrier, Ryanair reported solid traffic numbers for September 2026, driven by upbeat air-travel demand. The number of passengers transported on Ryanair flights was 20.4 million in September 2026, reflecting a 4% year-over-year increase. The September load factor of 94% remained flat on a year-over-year basis, reflecting consistent passenger demand for the airline's services.
RYAAY operated more than 111,700 flights in September 2026. However, the company had canceled more than 1,000 flights because of another UK air traffic control (ATC) system collapse, Belgian ATC strikes, and Mt. Etna eruptions.
Although September 2026 traffic numbers reflect year-over-year growth, they could not surpass its prior months’ figures. Ryanair’s encouraging monthly traffic numbers reflected steady growth from the beginning of the year till August 2026.
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Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA): Free Stock Analysis Report
Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY): Free Stock Analysis Report
Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (VLRS): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).