Scandinavian carrier Norwegian has reported a 27% year-on-year rise in passenger numbers for December 2012.
In results released this morning the airline said it had carried more than 1.6 million passengers across its network in the final month of 2013.
It put the increase down to solid passenger and capacity growth, in addition to a higher load factor.
“The traffic growth this month by far surpasses the capacity growth,” said the airline.
The airline, which has a growing base at Gatwick airport, said total capacity increased by 48% while passenger traffic was up by 52%.
The load factor was up 1.9 percentage points to 78%.
Norwegian’s CEO, Bjørn Kjos, said: “I am pleased that despite our strong capacity growth in December, we are capable of filling the aircraft even more than the same month previous year.
“This proves that Norwegian offers a competitive product both in terms of price and quality.”
The airline blamed its on-time departure performance on the fierce weather that hit northern Europe over the last six week.
Though it operated 98.2% of its scheduled flights in December, only 73.3% departed on time.
The carrier is planning to expand its Gatwick routes to 33 in 2014 including three long-haul services using Boeing 787 Dreamliners to New York, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale.