easyJet reports increase in passengers
British low-cost airline easyJet today said it had carried 1.7 million passengers in June, a rise of 83% compared with the same month last year.
The no-frills carrier, which acquired rival Go Fly in May 2002 but continued to operate the airline separately, said its load factor during June was 85.8%.
That compares with an 86.6% load factor in 2002 and represents the number of passengers flown as a proportion of available seats.
Taken together on a pro forma basis, easyJet and Go carried 1.5 million passengers with a load factor of 85.7% in June last year.
EasyJet chief executive Ray Webster said: “These figures are in line with our expectations. We are pleased with easyJet’s June performance, given the events that have adversely affected airline market recently.
“These results demonstrate, for both business and leisure customers, the continuing attractiveness of our fare structures and the airports selected for our network.”
The airline industry has been dampened by the gloomy global economic outlook as well as fears about war in Iraq and terrorism.
Last week, upmarket rival British Airways saw passenger load factor gain two points to 76.8% and warned that the revenue outlook for the first quarter was well down on the previous year.
In May, easyJet revealed it had run up pre-tax losses of £48m (€69m) in the six months to March 31 compared with a profit of £1m (€1.45m) in the same period last year, having cut fares to boost passenger numbers.
The company is due to provide a summer trading update on July 22.
