EasyJet rides out cancellations with 10% rise in passengers

EasyJet boss Carolyn McCall landed nearly half a million more passengers last month — flying in the face of cancellations after the downing of a Russian passenger jet in Egypt.

The budget airline has suspended flights to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh until January after security concerns were raised when a Russian plane crashed in Egypt because of a terrorist attack.

It was forced to rescue tourists who were stranded in the resort during a frenetic few days last month.

A total of 176 easyJet flights were cancelled from Sharm el-Sheikh during November, bringing the total to 378 for the month compared to 16 in November 2014.

Bad weather was blamed for the rest of the cancelled flights.

McCall’s take-home pay fell by almost a third last year, the annual report, released on Friday, revealed.

Her total package was £6.2 million down from £9.2 million as her long-term share incentives fell by £3 million to £4.5 million.

Despite the headwinds, easyJet lured 421,626 more passengers during November, taking the number of sunseekers settling into seats to about 4.8 million — 10% higher than last year.

This coincided with a personal triumph for McCall, who has been voted Britain’s most-admired leader by Management Today.