Aviation
RASK (revenue per available seat kilometre)
Total airline revenue divided by ASKs.
Last reviewedWhat does RASK (revenue per available seat kilometre) mean?
RASK is an airline's total operating revenue (tickets, bags, seat fees, cargo and other income) divided by ASKs. In the United States it is written RASM (per available seat mile). Passenger revenue per ASK equals load factor x yield, and ancillary and cargo income come on top. Example: a flight with 180,000 ASKs earns 12,240 from tickets and 1,260 from extras such as bags and seats, 13,500 in total, so RASK is 0.075. Comparing RASK with CASK shows whether the airline makes money on each unit of capacity: if CASK is 0.07, the margin is 0.005 per ASK, about 6.7 percent of revenue.
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Related terms
- CASK (cost per available seat kilometre)Total airline operating cost divided by ASKs.
- Yield (airlines)Passenger revenue per revenue passenger kilometre: the average fare per kilometre.
- Load factorThe share of seats filled with paying passengers: RPK divided by ASK.
- ASK (available seat kilometre)One seat flown one kilometre: the standard measure of airline capacity.
- RPK (revenue passenger kilometre)One paying passenger flown one kilometre: the standard measure of airline traffic.
- Break-even load factorThe load factor at which revenue exactly covers costs at current fares.
- Fuel hedgingLocking in the price of part of future fuel to reduce the risk of price swings.
- Airport slotPermission to use a busy airport at a set time to land or take off.