Easyjet sees 970 flights cancelled during May

Low-cost carrier Easyjet became the latest airline to lay bare the impact of air traffic control strike action as it revealed that nearly 1,000 flights were cancelled last month.

The Luton-based group said it cancelled 974 flights in May, with about 600 due to industrial action in France and Italy and 300 as a result of bad weather disruption and air traffic control (ATC) restrictions.

The cancellations compared with just 117 a year earlier and were equivalent to about 2.5 per cent of its planned capacity.

Rival Ryanair made a plea earlier this week for the EU to take “immediate” action to end the ATC strikes and prevent a summer of travel chaos after it revealed that more than 200,000 of its customers were hit by more than 1,100 flight cancellations in May.

Despite the woes, Easyjet’s latest traffic statistics showed it flew 3.7 per cent more passengers year on year last month at 7.8 million while its load factor – a key measure of how well airlines fill their planes – improved to 93.3 per cent from 91.5 per cent.