easyJet has reported a 16.7% rise in revenues for the first quarter to £763 million, which the carrier attributes to its affordable fares.

Passengers carried over the three months to the end of December increased by 8.1% to 12.9 million, and the load factor increased by 0.9 percentage points to 87.6%.

Meanwhile total revenues were up by 16.7% to £763 million driven by strong improvement in unit revenues which were up 9.2% to £51.83 per seat.

the carrier revealed its cost performance benefited from the absence of the snow disruption experienced in the same quarter last year. Consequently, cost per seat excluding fuel reduced by 1.6% on a reported basis.

Excluding the impact of the disruption, planned increases in airport charges and crew costs meant that cost per seat excluding fuel rose by 2.5%.
Revenue per seat at constant currency grew by 7.7% as reported revenues benefited from the strength of the swiss franc.

Commenting on the results, Carolyn McCall, easyJet Chief Executive said:  “easyJet has made a strong start to the year. This is due to firm control of costs, the strength of easyJet’s network, tight capacity discipline and pricing actions taken in the second half of last financial year.

“The good performance in the quarter has meant we are cautiously confident in our outlook for the business. Although the economic environment remains weak, easyJet’s affordable fares and our focus on making it easy for our customers combined with the actions that management is taking ensures that easyJet is well positioned to continue to succeed.”