British airline easyJet said passenger numbers rose 9.9 per cent in December, failing to match extra capacity added in the past year and sending its shares diving to a six-month low today.
Easyjet said while it sold 2,899,349 seats in December, its load factor, the proportion of available seats sold, fell 2.2 percentage points to 78.9 per cent.
When easyJet posted a 48 per cent rise in underlying annual profit in November, it forecast a 20 per cent rise in 2007/08 profit.
Separately today, Ryanair said it was offering two million seats at up to £10 pounds (€13.4) including taxes and charges, and that anyone who books a flights on its website between now and Thursday will receive a free bonus flight.