Easyjet has posted a 7 per cent increase in business traveller traffic for the three months to June 2014.
The airline said it was “continuing to make progress” in attracting more business passengers but still sees “structural opportunities” for developing the “business passenger initiative”.
The results are from Interim Management Statement, which shows the company’s financial results for the first quarter of the 2014 financial year,
The airline said the growth in business passengers was less than the overall passenger growth due to the movement of Easter into April, but said in the three months to June it delivered an 11 per cent growth in sales at its five largest Travel Management Companies.
In May, Easyjet announced it carried 12 million business passengers for the year ending March 2014, with one in five of its passengers now using the airline for business.
Easyjet said overall it expects to grow profit before tax from £478 million to a range of £545 million to £570 million for the year ending September 2014.
The airline said this range “includes the impact from the situations in Israel, Egypt and Moscow”.
The financial statement also showed total revenue grew by 8.6 per cent to £1,240 million, passengers carried increased by 9.4 per cent to 17.9 million, and the load factor increased by 2.2 per cent to 90.4 per cent.
Easyjet’s capacity grew 6.8 per cent in the quarter – It said this was primarily driven by a 16 per cent increase in capacity at Gatwick, mainly due to the purchase of the Flybe slots and 7 per cent growth at Rome Fiumicino.
Easyjet CEO Carolyn McCall, said: “Easyjet has again delivered a solid performance in the quarter, carrying 17.9 million passengers and growing revenue by 8.6 per cent to £1,240 million.
“We will continue to invest in building leading network positions, and this combined with a compelling customer proposition, low cost base and strong balance sheet leaves Easyjet well positioned to continue to deliver sustainable growth and returns.”
Easyjet.com