No-frills airline EasyJet said sales rose 5.3 per cent in its fiscal third quarter.
Revenues were £759.2 million in the three months ended June 30th, keeping the airline on course to report a full-year pretax profit of £100 million to £150 million.
Passenger numbers were also 3.5 per cent higher than a year earlier at 12.3 million for the quarter, despite 7,000 flights being cancelled due to the impact of the Iceland volcano, which delivered a £65 million hit to profits.
The unexpected cost came on top of a £21 million bill as flights fell victim to the winter snow.
The firm, which had a worse punctuality record than Air Zimbabwe at Gatwick in June, has also been hit by Iair traffic control strikes in France. Almost two-thirds of easyJet's planes travel through French airspace but controllers have been prioritising long-haul flights and aircraft taking off and landing in France.
The issues over punctuality have prompted a threat from easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou to withdraw the use of the "easy" brand from the airline unless it improves its time performance. Sir Stelios, who resigned from the board in May, has been a vocal critic of the airline's strategy of "relentless growth" through the recession, believing that profit margins and dividends should be a higher priority.
EasyJet has just finished a court battle with Sir Stelios over the use of the licence for non-airline products such as car hire. It believes he has no right to terminate the agreement on punctuality grounds.
Easyjet said it had been forced to draft in extra aircraft to fill in the gaps in its summer schedule.
New chief executive Carolyn McCall said the temporary action to resolve "crewing issues in some parts of our network" would lift costs by up to 3 per cent during the current financial year.
The airline is bringing in at least three extra planes and crew during the summer to minimise the impact on customers and staff, although some passengers could find flights rescheduled.
Bloomberg, PA