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Airplane cabins are flying closer to capacity

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If you are feeling extra cramped on your next flight, it’s not your imagination.

The percentage of seats filled on an average airplane in April -- 81.6% -- was the highest rate ever recorded for that month, according to new data by the U.S. Transportation Department.

The increasing load factors suggest airlines, struggling with rising fuel costs and sluggish demand, are trying to squeeze the most revenue from each flight.

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In the last two years, many airlines have tried to reduce costs and increase revenues by eliminating low-demand routes and parking unneeded planes.

But in the last few months, demand has begun to increase gradually. U.S. airlines carried 59.6 million scheduled domestic and international passengers in April, a 0.2% increase from April 2009, according to the Transportation Department.

On domestic flights, the load factors averaged 82.5% in April, and international flights were 79.3% full for the month, according to the federal agency.

The overall 81.6% load factor represents a 0.9% increase from April 2009 and a 5% increase from the load factor for all of 2009.

--Hugo Martin

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