It seems that the budget airline, easyJet, has been able to post strong revenue growth despite its schedules being severely disrupted over the past month due to the big winter freeze. The airline, which is based in Luton, cited higher load factors and a hike in non-UK passengers for its double digit revenue growth over the past quarter.

Snow problems have cost the airline an estimated £8 million. However, the airline did say that 90 percent of its scheduled flights took off during the storms. The chief executive of easyJet, Andy Harrison, said that the carrier has continued to deliver a superior performance into the first quarter of the new financial year. He went on to say that the strength of their customer demand has allowed them to grow passengers flown by nearly 10 percent with virtually no yield deterioration at all. This is, of course, slightly ahead of their initial expectations.

Andy also noted that the economic conditions remain very challenging, and they continue to expect a tough trading environment. However, the underlying performance of the business in the first quarter has been encouraging, and easyJet remains on track to deliver substantial profit improvements during 2010.

Revenues rose 10.5 percent to £608 million. Passenger numbers grew to 11 million, which is up 9.1 percent year on year. This growth was driven mainly by non-UK passengers, who now account for more than 50 percent of easyjet fliers. Ancillary revenues soared by 21 percent to £127 million. The average revenue from checked in bags rose 10 percent to £4.39 per passenger.