Allegiant says October traffic rose 8.6 percent

LAS VEGAS - Allegiant Travel Co. said Thursday that traffic on its Allegiant Air subsidiary rose 8.6 percent, even as capacity dropped 2.4 percent.

Allegiant, which flies to leisure destinations, said it flew 248 million revenue passenger miles, up from 228.4 million miles during October 2007. A revenue passenger mile equals one passenger flown one mile.

Available seat miles, or capacity, dropped to 284.1 million, from 291.2 million a year ago. But load factor, or the percentage of seats filled, rose 8.9 percentage points to 87.3 percent.

The figures include both scheduled and charter service.

Allegiant Travel shares fell $2.48, or 6.2 percent, to $37.27 in afternoon trading.

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