Passenger numbers up, load factor down at easyJet

FTSE 100 low-cost carrier easyJet saw passenger numbers increase in March, but its load factor decreased as hundreds of flights were cancelled due to industrial action.

A total of 5,728,114 passengers flew during the month, up 4.3% on a year earlier. On a rolling 12 month basis to 31 March, the airline carried 70,761,515 passengers, up 7.2% on the prior 12 months.

The airline’s load factor in March was 91.3%, down 1.3 percentage points on March 2015, while its rolling 12-month load factor of 91.5% was an improvement of 0.6 percentage points.

EasyJet cancelled 611 flights during the month, the vast majority of which were due to strike action by air traffic controllers in France.