Easyjet has continued to see an increase in business travellers in the last three months as the airline looks set to make record profits again this year.
The no-frills carrier said that the number of corporate passengers had risen by 4.2 per cent in the three months to the end of June – this compares to an overall passenger rise of 2.6 per cent to 16.4 million for the quarter.
Easyjet saw total revenue for the third quarter grow by 10.5 per cent to £1.142 billion due to a 3.6 per cent rise in capacity and higher revenue per seat, although the airline’s load factor fell by 0.9 percentage points to 88.2 per cent.
Chief executive Carolyn McCall (pictured) said: “The strong performance demonstrates further progress against the Easyjet strategy and the commitment to deliver returns and profitable growth for shareholders.”
The airline said it was on course to make pre-tax profits of between £450 million and £480 million during the current financial year, which runs until September 30. This compares to a record profit of £317 million in 2012.
Easyjet said that it had “made further progress in attracting more business passengers to the airline”.
“Travelport, one of the major Global Distribution Systems, recently improved its Galileo booking system which will make it easier for agents to sell Easyjet’s fares,” said the airline in its report to investors.
“In addition, Easyjet has secured further deals with European public sector bodies including the German government to provide access to Easyjet fares.”