The early start to the Easter holidays this year are thought to have helped provide a boost to easyJet’s carryings in March.
Passenger numbers were up by 7.5% to almost 5.5 million against the same month last year.
The load factor improved by 1.1 percentage points to 92.6%.
The UK budget carrier’s annual carryings for the year to March rose by 6.7% to just under 66 million.
The figures came a day after low fares rival Ryanair announced March traffic had soared by 28% to 6.67 million passengers.
Meanwhile, Aer Lingus saw overall carryings in March increase by 2.3% to 815,000 passengers, including a 25% leap in long-haul numbers to 94,000.