British budget airline easyJet carried 7.9% more passengers in May year on year, despite disruption caused by volcanic dust, and said it would trial an infrared ash detector to limit future stoppages.
EasyJet flew 4.26 million passengers in May, up from 3.95 million the year before, while its load factor - a measure of how well it fills planes - rose 2.3 percentage points to 83.5% as traffic across the continent recovers.
The spread of ash from an erupting volcano in Iceland grounded much of European air traffic for nearly a week in April over fears of the effect ash could have on jet engines. There were far fewer closures last month as the cloud dissipated and regulators eased flying restrictions.
EasyJet also said it would try out a new ash detector in the coming months in a bid to end ash-related disruption.
The Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector (AVOID), designed by Norway's Institute for Air Research, uses an infrared radar system which is placed onto an aircraft to supply images to pilots and flight control centres.
These images will allow pilots to see an ash cloud up to 100km ahead of the aircraft and at altitudes between 5,000 and 50,000 feet, easyJet said.
'The ash detector will enable our aircraft to see and avoid the ash cloud, just like airborne weather radars and weather maps make thunderstorms visible,' easyJet CEO Andy Harrison said.
Air France-KLM and Ryanair's May traffic rose 4.3% and 17%, respectively, and both said demand continued to improve. BA, however, carried 11.5% fewer passengers in May compared to the same time last year, hit by disruption caused by seven days of strikes by cabin crew.
Several European airlines, including Deutsche Lufthansa, Air Berlin and Iberia, are due to report May traffic figures next week.
