Wizz Air Holdings PLC (AIM:WIZZ) carried a record number of passengers in August despite the ongoing effect of groundings due to Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engine issues.
Just over 6.2 million people flew with the airline in August, up 1% from a year earlier, as load factors climbed 1.3% to 95.4%.
This was despite groundings due to P&W engine inspections, which caused a 0.4% drop in seat capacity in August, Wizz said on Tuesday.
P&W parent RTX flagged issues with its geared turbofan engines last year over concerns of suspected contaminants in some parts, prompting groundings of Wizz’s A321neos.
Wizz noted this had led to an increase in emissions in August and over the first eight months of the year due to extended use of older aircraft.
Some 62 million passengers travelled with Wizz over the year so far, the airline added, marking an increase of 9.6%, while load factors dipped by 0.2% to 90.1%.
Ryanair Holdings PLC (LSE:RYA) also reported passenger growth in August, of 8% to 20.5 million people as load factors hit 96%.
Wizz Air shares climbed 1.5% on Tuesday morning.