Easyjet’s share price edges up 1.5 per cent after announcing it flew 7.5m passengers during August
Easyjet’s planes were fuller in August although experts say it is a trend that may stall in the future.
Load factors nudged up from 94.4 per cent to 94.9 per cent in 2016 compared to the previous year. Meanwhile the total number of passengers flying with the Luton-based carrier beat expectations – growing by 6.4 per cent to 7,513,592 during the month.
“There is a bit of a price war across Europe, particularly [between] Easyjet and Ryanair. [Passenger] growth was ahead of our expectations of six per cent,” said Cantor Fitzgerald’s Rob Byde.
Increasing load factors – that's the percentage of seats filled – in the future will be a challenge according to Byde.
“Cabins that are 95 per cent full are pretty full and not particularly nice places to be,” he said.
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Easyjet’s share price took a pummeling in the wake of the Brexit vote, losing a over a third of its value in the two days after the EU referendum. While it continued to struggle in the immediate weeks that followed, it has made steady progress subsequently and is up 16 per cent on a nadir of 989.5p.
Read more: EasyJet shares are being hammered after it warned on Brexit
“Easyjet was so bearish about Brexit but there has been no discernible slowdown in passenger growth and the cabins are very full,” said Byde.
Easyjet’s share price closed up 1.68 per cent to 1,150p.