EasyJet January passenger numbers up but load factor dips

Budget airline EasyJet’s passenger numbers rose 6.3% in January compared with the same month in 2015 to 4.28m.

However, the load factor – which gauges how many seats were actually taken up on flights – nudged down to 85% from 85.1%.

On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger numbers grew 7.2% to 70.08m and the load factor edged up to 91.6% from 90.8%.

In January, EasyJet said the Sharm el-Sheikh disaster and the terror attacks in Paris hit its revenue for the three months to the end of December.

The airline said the events resulted in lower demand and yield in November and December, offsetting a strong revenue per seat performance in October.

As a result, revenue per seat was down 3.7% on a constant currency basis. Total revenue was affected by the events as well as negative foreign exchange movements, down 0.1% to £930m.