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Airline and vacation company Transat A.T. Inc. reported a decreased net loss in the first quarter compared to last year, as it reduced capacity and rose its selling prices in the winter months.

"Changes brought to our organization over the last 18 months, as well as our decision to slightly reduce capacity, have contributed to the improvement of our results," said Tranast's president and chief executive officer Jean-Marc Eustache.

The Montreal-based company posted revenue of $805.7-million in the quarter ended January 31, 2013, compared with $829.3-million in revenue in the same quarter in 2012. Transat said this was due primarily to the decision to lower its capacity through its travel routes from sun destinations to trans-Atlantic and European routes. This resulted in 12.6 per cent fewer travellers, yet selling pricers for travelling was higher than over the same period last year.

The company reported a net loss of $15.1-million, or 39 cents per diluted share, compared with $29.5-million, or 77 per share, a year ago.

Transat said it sees this trend continuing in the second quarter, with decreased capacity and load factors down, yet also higher selling prices higher. Capacity in Canadian sun destination travel is down around 10 per cent so far in the second quarter, while capacity in the trans-Atlantic routes and Transat's France-based operations are down 18 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively, compared to the second quarter last year.

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