EasyJet and Ryanair withstand impact of terror attacks as passenger numbers rise

The UK’s biggest low-cost airlines withstood the impact of November’s terrorist attacks in Paris to post strong figures in December.

Easyjet said that passenger numbers grew by 4.6% during December, despite predicting a fall in bookings in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.

However, the Luton-based airline, which is France’s second biggest operator, did see a small fall in load factor as passengers switched routes away from France.

Meanwhile, Ryanair appeared to show little impact from the terrorism with December traffic up by a quarter, compared with last year, to 7.5 million customers, although it admitted that fares charged were lower.

Ryanair has now become the first airline to carry more than 100 million passengers in a single year, with a rolling total for 2015 of 101.4 million customers.