EasyJet cancels more than 170 flights due to French air traffic strikes and bad weather

Hundreds of passengers flying with easyJet and British Airways faced cancellations

The group is also facing a summer price war as competition from rival Ryanair hots up (Getty)

EasyJet cancelled more than 170 flights in May, the budget-carrier has said.

There were 173 cancellations for the month, which were largely due to French air control strikes and poor weather.

The controllers, who handle the busiest skies in Europe, took part in a stoppage on Thursday last week that grounded 10,000 British airline passengers.

The Luton-based airline said it carried 6.9 million travellers in May, 5.7 per cent more than a year ago, despite last month's EgyptAir crash and the cancellations during that period.

However, the company said its load factor – a measure of how full its airplanes are – dipped slightly, by 0.1 per cent to 91.5 per cent compared with 12 months ago.

Last month EasyJet posted half-year results which showed the low-cost airline had swung to a loss after recent terror attacks saw some passengers stay away, while rivals stepped up the pace of competition.

It posted losses of £24m for the six months to the end of March against profits of £7m for the year earlier, but said its bottom line was hit by a £33m foreign exchange rate impact.

The company said sales suffered in the wake of November's deadly attacks in Paris, which knocked 2.7 per cent off revenues per seat in the first half, while the suspension of flights on routes to the popular Egyptian tourist destination of Sharm el-Sheikh following the Russian airliner crash in October reduced revenues by another 1.3 per cent.

The group is also facing a summer price war as competition from rivals such as Ryanair hots up, with the sharp drops in the price of oil seeing a surge in low-cost travel as fares look set to fall.

Ryanair said in May that it plans to slash fares by an average of 7 per cent this year as the industry struggles with overcapacity and fears of weaker demand caused by the recent spate of terror attacks.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said: "If other airlines want to compete with us on price, then we will lower our prices again. If there is a fare war in Europe, then Ryanair will be the winner."

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