Budget airline says quarterly revenues stand at £897m

The announcement comes after it recorded an annual profit increase of 51 per cent.

It said the number of passengers it carried increased by 4.2 per cent to 14.3 million, with business passengers lifting by 8.9 per cent.

It added revenue per seat was also up by 3.4 per cent, despite tough comparisons with a post-Olympics getaway in 2012.

However, bookings for the first-half are expected to be flat on the year before and pre-tax losses for the six-month period are forecast to increase to between 70 million and 90 million because of the timing of Easter.

The group said tough competition, together with restrictions on travel to Egypt, had also taken their toll on performance.

However, it was helped by the closure of under-performing routes, changes to fees and charges and the performance of allocated seating.

Carolyn McCall, chief executive, said: “Easyjet has made a good start to the year.

“We have delivered revenue per seat growth in the quarter against a challenging competitive environment and the tough comparison with the previous year.”