EasyJet passenger numbers ascend again, Tegel operations on track

EasyJet’s passenger numbers once again flew higher in April, with the company reporting a total of 7,452,647 customers in its seats during the month on Friday - a 4.7% improvement on the same period last year.

The FTSE 100 low-cost carrier said its load factor for the month was 93.4%, up 0.5 percentage points year-on-year.

On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger numbers to the end of April were ahead 8% on the same time 12 months ago at 82,813,745, while load factor rose 1.4 percentage points to 93.3%.

“There were 323 cancellations in April 2018,” the easyJet board reported.

“Over half were due to French industrial action, with the remaining cancellations due to adverse weather, a 24 hour closure of Schiphol airport and technical issues.”

At Berlin's Tegel Airport, where easyJet has taken over some of the operations of the failed Air Berlin, easyJet said passenger numbers continued to be “in line with expectations”, with further detail promised in its first half results on 15 May.

The airline was yet to fold its Tegel operations into its monthly passenger statistics.