AIRLINES

Air Canada has dug up some Olympic trivia, estimating that it will fly more than 82,000 travellers a day across its network in the week leading up to the start of the Vancouver Winter Games on Friday.

But the numbers that really count, at least to investors, won't posted be on a scoreboard, but in a news release on Wednesday, when Canada's largest airline releases its fourth-quarter financial results.

National Bank Financial Inc. analyst David Newman reckons that Air Canada's unit revenue - a key industry measure of improvement stated in revenue per available seat mile (RASM) - came under pressure in the fourth quarter.

"While we believe a recovery is under way, a difficult airline operating environment could persist for at least another six months or so. That said, the airlines are reporting traffic increases, with capacity and costs being held in check," Mr. Newman said in a research note.

WestJet Airlines Ltd., which issues its fourth-quarter results on Feb. 17, saw its January traffic rise 9.7 per cent to 1.25 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs). By contrast, Air Canada's January traffic climbed 4.1 per cent to 3.86 billion RPMs.

Air Canada faces the challenge of luring corporate travellers back into business class, said Robert Kokonis, president of airline consulting firm AirTrav Inc.

Calin Rovinescu, who became Air Canada's chief executive officer last April, acknowledged last week that his airline needs to carefully monitor its seat capacity "in a difficult economic environment."

For Air Canada, any tourism ripple effect from the 2010 Winter Olympics Games would be a welcome economic prize, after passenger loads suffered last year with the recession.