Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes’ reported impressive traffic numbers for September with air-travel demand improving in Latin America. People are increasingly opting for air travel nowadays as fears of contracting coronavirus has declined with widespread vaccination programs.

Traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometers, moved up marginally on a month-over-month basis in September. In the same time frame, capacity measured in available seat kilometers rose 2.1%. Since traffic surge was less than capacity expansion, load factor (% of seats filled by passengers) fell by 1.1 percentage points (p.p) from August levels to 79.1%.  

Traffic increased 36.8% year over year in September. In the same time frame, capacity expanded 38.1%. Since traffic surge was less than capacity expansion, load factor dropped 0.8 p.p to 79.1% from year-ago period’s levels. Gol Linhas’ total monthly departures surged 51.7% and seats rose 51.1%.

Gol Linhas transported 1.6 million passengers in September (up 47.8% on a year-over-year basis). The Latin America-based airline did not operate international flights during September.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Gol Linhas currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Transportation sector are Schneider National, Inc. (SNDR Quick QuoteSNDR - Free Report) , Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (ODFL Quick QuoteODFL - Free Report) and Landstar System, Inc. (LSTR Quick QuoteLSTR - Free Report) . All the stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1(Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

Long-term expected earnings per share (three to five years) growth rate for Schneider National, Old Dominion and Landstar is pegged at 17.9%, 22.7% and 12%, respectively.