Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes posted impressive traffic numbers for the month of July, as air-travel demand picks up on increased vaccination programs.

Traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometers, moved up 53.4% month on month in July. Owing to increased travel demand, the company raised its capacity significantly. In the same time frame, capacity measured in available seat kilometers rallied 52.3%. Since traffic surge was more than capacity expansion, load factor (% of seats filled by passengers) inched up 0.6 percentage points (p.p) from June levels to 84.5%.  

Notably, traffic surged 173.3% year over year in July. In the same time frame, capacity expanded 152.4%. Since traffic surge was more than capacity expansion, load factor increased 6.4 p.p to 84.5% from year-ago period’s levels. Gol Linhas’ total monthly departures skyrocketed 133.9% and seats surged 145.6%.

Gol Linhas transported 1.9 million passengers in July (up 168% a year-over-year basis). The Latin America-based airline did not operate international flights during July.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

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

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Transportation sector are Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (KNX Quick QuoteKNX - Free Report) , Landstar System, Inc. (LSTR Quick QuoteLSTR - Free Report) and Herc Holdings Inc. (HRI Quick QuoteHRI - Free Report) . Knight-Swift and Landstar carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), while Herc Holdings sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Long-term expected earnings per share (three to five years) growth rate for Knight-Swift, Landstar and Herc Holdings is pegged at 15%, 12% and 49.2%, respectively.