Easyjet counts cost of volcano effect

Budget airline easyJet yesterday said volcanic ash cloud disruption had caused passenger numbers to slump 7.6 per cent in April.

EasyJet said it had suffered 750,000 cancellations as a result of the Icelandic eruption, which caused a shut down of UK airspace over six days.

It had expected to see a 14 per cent boost in passengers to 4.3 million during April before the cloud descended, grounding all flights and trapping thousands of people overseas.

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As a result, the airline said it carried 3.5 million travellers in the month, compared with 3.8 million a year earlier.

The carrier said around 200,000 of its cancelled passengers were stranded as a consequence of the disruption.

"EasyJet repatriated all of its customers within five days as easyJet operated special rescue flights to hot spot areas where many passengers were stranded," the firm said.

EasyJet is set to announce results for the year to March 31 next week, but analysts have focused more keenly on the possible impact of the ash disruption in the second half of its financial year.

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The cost of the first closure of UK airspace cost the firm an estimated 50m, according to Panmure Gordon's Gert Zonneveld, with around 5m a day in losses estimated by the company.

But Mr Zonneveld notes that despite dire recessionary performance for many of its rivals, easyJet was able to ride relatively unhurt through the economic turbulence.

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