EasyJet said over 1,000 more flights were canceled in June than in the same month in 2017, mainly because of Frenchand Italian air traffic control (ATC) strikes.
The UK LCC said there were 1,263 cancellations in June 2018, equivalent to around 2.7% of planned capacity and up on the 213 experienced in June 2017. Around 900 were because of French and Italian industrial action, with a further 150 attributed to adverse weather conditions and ATC restrictions.
Irish LCC Ryanair said on July 4 that ATC strikes and staff shortages caused over 1,100 flight cancellations in June compared to just 41 cancellations in same month last year.
EasyJet was reporting traffic statistics for June 2018 that also revealed a 6.6% year-over-year growth in passenger numbers that were helped by demand for Italian, Spanish and UK city breaks, as well as flights to the Balearics.
The airline reported a 1.8% increase in capacity in June and 1.4 percentage point increase in load factor to 93.5% compared to the previous 12 months ending June 30.
All numbers were also up when compared to June 2017 with passenger numbers increasing by 2.3%.
EasyJet said it operated around 51,000 flights in June 2018—an average of 1,700 flights a day—and carried more than a quarter of a million passengers per day totaling 7.9 million in the month across its European network.
The statistics do not include the airline’s Berlin Tegel Airport operations, which started Jan. 5, 2018.