Easyjet boosted by beach holiday demand

Easyjet has reported better-than-expected quarterly revenues, helped by strong demand for beach holidays.

Revenue in the three months to 30 June was lower, but the performance was not as bad as the guidance the airline had issued in May.

The company said revenue per seat, a key measure of airline efficiency, fell 5.4% to £59.08 per seat.

French air traffic control strikes and a fire at Rome Fiumicino caused 1,364 cancelled flights.

Total revenue fell 1% to £1.23m in the quarter but the number of passengers carried increased by 6.2% to 19.1 million.

"Our Q3 performance shows that Easyjet's strategy continues to deliver, in particular with good performance in the UK and beach routes across Europe," said Carolyn McCall, Easyjet's chief executive.

She added that Easyjet now expected to report pre-tax profits of between £620m and £660m for the year to 30 September, up from £581m the year before.

Flybe grows

Separately, UK regional airline Flybe said its passenger numbers had risen to 2.1 million in the three months to 30 June, up 9.8% from a year earlier.

Passenger revenues grew 1.6% to £147.7m

"We carried significantly more customers than the same time last year and maintained our industry-leading punctuality levels," said Saad Hammad, Flybe's chief executive officer.

The carrier also said it had made a strong start to the current quarter, with passenger revenues up 11%.