LONDON (Alliance News) - Low-cost airline easyJet PLC on Thursday said its passenger traffic rose in December but its load factor was dragged lower by the effects of the Paris terror attacks, though no such problems were reported by rival Ryanair Holdings PLC, which saw its traffic and load factor both improve.
FTSE 100-listed budget carrier easyJet said it carried 4.8 million passengers in December, compared to 4.6 million a year earlier, up 4.6%. On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger numbers were up 6.9% to 69.8 million, it said.
But easyJet said its load factor in the month declined to 86.6% from 88.4%, which it blamed on customers staying away following the terrorist attacks which hit Paris in November. It said this is now recovering to more normal levels.
Irish carrier Ryanair, however, said its customer traffic in the month rose 25% year-on-year to 7.5 million, up from 6.0 million, while its load factor improved to 91.0% from 88.0%.
In addition, its rolling annual traffic to December increased 17% year-on-year to 101.4 million customers.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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easyJet (EZJ)