Icelandic low cost airline PLAY carried 87,932 passengers in June, a 55% increase from the previous month when PLAY carried 56,601 passengers. In June, the load factor was 79.2% compared to a 69.6% load factor in May. On-time performance (OTP) in June was 79.1%, still more than satisfactory given the difficult situation at European airports that struggle with staff shortages and subsequent delays. The fast recovery in worldwide travel and staff shortages after COVID-19 has caused significant difficulties and delays in supply chains as well as at most airports that PLAY operates to. Like most other airlines, PLAY has experienced delays in its schedule and suffered from costs associated with these delays. This cost is already built into the company’s business plan and is in line with expectations and the norm in the industry. During this year’s first quarter, PLAY began implementing the company’s fuel hedging policy. Fuel hedging is a contractual tool some large fuel consuming companies use to reduce their exposure to volatile and potentially rising fuel costs by establishing a fixed or capped cost, via a commodity swap or option. PLAY’s first step was cautious, but with the next step the airline has decided to further increase its fuel hedging to 30% of estimated fuel consumption for the next three months (July to September), and 15% of estimated fuel consumption for the subsequent four to six months (October to December), in line with PLAY´s fuel hedging policy. PLAY’s sixth aircraft, an Airbus A320neo, arrived in Iceland at the end of June: the airline is now operating three Airbus A321neo and three Airbus A320neo aircrafts to PLAY’s 25 destinations in the U.S. and Europe. Read more: Flyplay.com