British Airways’ parent company IAG saw its premium traffic rise by 4 per cent during June compared to the same month last year.
The group, which also owns Spanish carriers Iberia and Vueling, said that its premium traffic rose despite the impact of the World Cup on overall passenger numbers.
IAG’s total passenger numbers for June rose by 8.8 per cent to 7.1 million despite a 1.5 per cent fall in traffic to Latin America and the Caribbean to 336,000 passengers during the month. So far this year, the company’s passenger numbers have climbed 7.8 per cent to 35.5 million.
British Airways recorded a 4.7 per cent rise in passenger traffic in June as measured by RPKs (revenue passenger kilometres) on the back of a 7.7 per cent increase in capacity as measured by ASKs (available seat kilometres).
Easyjet also saw passenger numbers rise by 10.1 per cent in June to 6.1 million despite having to cancel 380 flights – mainly due to strike action by French air traffic controllers on June 24-25.
Rival Ryanair meanwhile recorded a 5 per cent rise in passengers to 8.3 million during June, which means it has carried 82.7 million people in the last 12 months. Over the same period, Easyjet carried 63.3 million passengers.