easyJet May passenger numbers up 5.7%

Passenger numbers at low cost carrier easyJet rose 5.7% in May to 6.86m despite 173 cancellations due to French air traffic control strikes and weather conditions.

Load factor for the month fell 0.1 percentage points to 91.5.

Year-on-year passengers were up 7.3% to 71.5m, while the load factor rose 0.2 percentage points to 91.4%.

Passenger numbers are classified as the number of earned seats flown. Earned seats include seats that are flown whether or not the passenger turns up because easyJet is a no-refund airline, and once a flight has departed a no-show customer is generally not entitled to change flights or seek a refund.

Earned seats also include seats provided for promotional purposes and to staff for business travel.