Rise in cancellations doesn’t hamper easyJet growth
Easyjet was forced to cancel 468 flights in the three months to December 31, compared to 360 in the same period in 2013.
The majority of cancellations were in December when the airline was hit by general strikes in Italy and Belgium, crew strikes in France and Italy and a runway closure at Gatwick airport after an emergency landing by a Virgin Atlantic flight.
But despite the cancellations, EasyJet managed to grow passenger numbers by 4.1% to 14.9 million and with an improved load factor of 89.7%.
Capacity rose by 2.9% to 16.6 million seats, pushing up total revenue by £34 million to £931 million.
Revenue per seat grew by 0.8% to £56.16 per seat.
Chief executive Carolyn McCall said the airline had enjoyed a strong October, particularly on UK leisure flights to beach destinations and on French domestic routes.
“We further strengthened our network in the quarter adding around 500,000 seats, the majority of which are from airports where easyJet has a number one or number two position," she said.
"This combined with our new TV ads aimed at business travellers enabled easyJet to sell record numbers of seats to business travellers in the first quarter.
“EasyJet is well positioned to continue to deliver returns and growth to shareholders.”
EasyJet said it expects to report a first half loss before tax of between £10 million and £30 million, assuming normal levels of disruption, compared to the £53 million loss reported in the first half of last year.
"With around 15% of second half seats sold year to date, in line with this time last year, it is still too early to give guidance on second half revenue per seat or expected profits," it added.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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