Paris attacks dampen easyJet passenger loads

Aircraft were emptier at easyJet in December, as the Luton-based airline felt the effects of a French leisure market muted by terrorism.

The FTSE 100 firm flew 4,848,258 passengers in December 2015, up from 4,634,977 a year earlier - an increase of 4.6%.

EasyJet's load factor was down, however, by 1.8 percentage points, from 88.4% in December 2014 to 86.6% last month.

The airline blamed this poorer load performance on the terror attacks in Paris in mid-November.

"easyJet is France's second largest airline, and around 23% of the airline's capacity during December was on French-touching routes", the company's board said in a statement.

"As a consequence, the load factor fell."

On a rolling 12-month basis, easyJet's annual passenger numbers have climbed by 6.9% to 69,828,383 to December 2015.

Its 12-month load factor edged up as well, by 0.8 percentage points to 91.6%.

The airline was optimistic about its prospects going into 2016, saying the downturn in France appeared to be only temporary.

"Load factors are now recovering to normal levels, and management do not anticipate any change to full year market expectations", the board added.