The late Easter this year saw Eurotunnel Le Shuttle car carryings slump by 7% in the first quarter.
Vehicle carryings dropped to 466,562 “penalised by the strongly unfavourable calendar effect with the Easter weekend, which generates high levels of tourist traffic, falling in April this year whilst in 2016 it fell in March”.
However, the Le Shuttle cross channel car market share grew to 62.4% in the first three months of the year, following a record in February of more than 64%.
Eurostar carryings grew by 2% in the January to March period to 2.27 million passengers over the same period in 2016.
This represented “a positive sign of a return of traffic which is expected to continue during the second quarter, especially given the record level of reservations for travel over the Easter weekend,” Eurotunnel said.
Total revenue for the Channel Tunnel operator edged up by 1% year-on-year in the first quarter to €231.8 million.
Eurotunnel chairman and chief executive, Jacques Gounon, said: “In the first quarter of 2017, the Eurotunnel Group has once again shown proof of its ability to generate growth.
“We reconfirm our confidence in our ability to reach our strategic plan for 2020.”