20% rise in passengers for easyJet

Apr 8 2008 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

LOW-cost airline easyJet carried 3.73 million passengers in March, an increase of 20.5% on the same month a year earlier.

The performance reflected the addition of former British Airways subsidiary GB Airways and a 13.7% improvement by the existing easyJet operation.

The Luton-based carrier unveiled the £103m acquisition of GB last year, but flights continued to operate under the BA brand until the end of March. GB is primarily a Gatwick-based operator, covering destinations across southern Europe and northern Africa with a fleet of 15 Airbus aircraft.

GB carried 212,394 passengers in March, a fall of almost 11% on a year earlier. EasyJet continued to expand, with passenger numbers excluding GB Airways showing an improvement to 3.52m in the month.

Load factor, which measures the number of seats filled, improved to 87.3% from 84.4% on easyJet flights. There was a similar improvement to 90.2% for GB.

EasyJet, founded by Stelios Haji-loannou, recently braced investors for half-year profits disappointment after warning of a potential £45m hike in fuel costs.