This year’s later Easter delivered a boost for budget airlines Ryanair and easyJet, figures from the two carriers revealed today.

Ryanair, the largest opeator at Stansted Airport, said it carried 7.8 million passengers during April, an increase of 400,000 on the corresponding month last year and representing growth of 5%.

The company’s load factor ? the percentage of available seats sold ? also grew, from 81% in April last year to 83%.

And Ryanair’s rolling 12-month passenger total, which avoids the skewed comparison with last year when Easter fell during March, was 3% up at a 82m, representing a load factor of 83%.

Ryanair spokesman Robin Kiely said that, besides benefiting from the Easter getaway, last month’s figures also reflected the “improved customer experience” the company now offered, including allocated seating, a free second small carry-on bag and permitted use of portable electronic devices on all flights.

Luton-based easyJet, which is also a major operator at Stansted, carried 5.8m passengers last month, an increase of 10.2% from 5.3m in April last year, with its load factor improving from 86.7% to 89.8%.

The company’s rolling annual total grew by 4.2%, from 59.5m to 62.4m, a load factor of 89.7% against 89.1%.