EasyJet passengers up

Budget airline easyJet today said it carried 3.7 million passengers in August, up 17.8% on the same month last year.

But the firm’s load factor – a key measure of how well carriers are filling their planes – slipped back by nearly 2% to 87.4% compared with last August as the group expanded its fleet.

The figures from the Luton-based airline, which serves 318 routes to 83 airports, contrast with data from low-cost rival Ryanair on Wednesday.

Ryanair said its load factor remained steady at 91% in August, with a 21% increase in passenger numbers to 4.8 million. British Airways also reported a rise in its load factor earlier this week, by 1.8% to 80% in August.

Easyjet’s revenues per seat have been under pressure in recent months as the airline has cut fare prices and had to cope with the doubling of UK air passenger duty.

However, the company has said it is on track for profits growth of between 40% and 50% during the current financial year.

On a rolling 12-month basis, easyJet’s passenger numbers were up 12.6% to 36.8 million, although load factors dropped marginally by 0.9% to 83.8%. Revenues increased 11.3% to £1.78 billion.

Collins Stewart analyst Andrew Fitchie said easyJet’s traffic figures were “broadly as expected”.

He said: “Traffic growth has been good from all airlines reporting August data so far.”

The data follows reports yesterday that easyJet is set to close its Luton call centre, with the loss of nearly 150 jobs. The firm is said to be moving its call centre operations to bases in Germany and Poland in a bid to cut costs.