EasyJet reports rise in passengers for August

6th Sep 2011 07:03

Budget airline easyJet announced a 6.5% like-for-like year-on-year increase in the number of passengers boarding its planes for the month of August. Despite the increase in the number of passengers carried, the load factor - a measure of how full each plane is - saw a 0.1 percentage point decrease to 92.2% after the board opted to purchase 35 new aircraft in January. The company has also reported a 11.8% rise in passenger numbers for the rolling 12 months up to and including August, reflecting an increase of around six million passengers but just a 0.3% rise in used passenger capacity. Rigas Doganis, the board member held responsible for the aircraft purchase, has since been the subject of a dispute with the airline's major shareholder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who has called for a shareholder meeting to demand the removal of Doganis from easyJet's board. Doganis has been on the board of Easyjet since 2005. He is an aviation consultant and strategy adviser to airlines, airports, banks and governments. NR