Passenger numbers rise at EasyJet and Aer Lingus
Irish airline Aer Lingus and budget carrier EasyJet both saw passenger numbers rise by 3.2 per cent last year, in what was a generally good year for the firms.
Aer Lingus saw the number of people using its services increase to 11.1m in 2014.
Its load factor, the number of seats filled on each flight, also rose by six points to 79 per cent for the year, reflecting growth in the business, especially in the long-haul sector.
It was a similar story at EasyJet, which flew 65.3m people on its planes last year, a 6.5 per cent improvement on 2013.
In December alone the group saw passenger numbers rise by 3.2 per cent to 4.6m.
The load factor also increased at EasyJet, which has been focusing its marketing efforts on young professionals who take a number of European trips each year. More than 90 per cent of all EasyJet flights are now full, an increase of 1.5 per cent compared with the previous year.
Ryanair, the largest low-cost carrier in Europe, also had a good year, with passenger numbers increasing six per cent to 86.4m over the year. The group’s load factor rose from 81 per cent in 2013 to 88 per cent last year, it said in a statement yesterday.