Growth accelerates but load factors plummet in October

Europe’s LCCs continue to show impressive growth with a number of airlines reporting higher growth in October than in September.

Source: Airline websites, UK CAA Airline data

Despite Vueling’s on-going management changes passenger numbers were up over 85% in October. Meanwhile SkyEurope’s growth jumped from under 20% in September to over 30% in October. Air Berlin’s drop in growth rate in October reflects the fact that the airline is now reporting total figures including its latest LTU acquisition.

Source: Airline websites, UK CAA Airline data

Vueling and SkyEurope’s accelerated growth in October has resulted in poorer load factors. In fact only Ryanair has managed to maintain load factors at September levels.