Wizz Air reported a surge in passenger numbers of 18% for the month of December.

The budget airline said passengers were up to 2.6 million, with load factor also up 1.3 percentage points to 88.8% during the festive period.

In the rolling 12 months, Wizz Air passenger numbers were up 19.6% at 33.8 million while the load factor rose 1 ppt to 92.4%.

The group also increased its capacity in December by 16.5% to 2.99 million, now serving an additional 14 new routes.

Wizz Air is the largest low-cost airline across Central and Eastern Europe. Wizz Air is a constituent of the FTSE-250 Index.

Elsewhere across the aviation industry, Ryanair (LON:RYA) also reported encouraging passenger numbers for the month of December.

It reported a 12% growth in December traffic compared to a year previously, up to 10.3 million customers.

Ryanair also said that it operated over 57,000 scheduled flights in December, with more than 81% landing on time.

Whilst the Christmas period provided a boost to both airlines, in general, the aviation industry has been struggling amid increased competition and higher fuel prices.

Earlier this year, both Ryanair and Wizz Air issued profit warnings, as industrial action weighed from air traffic control staff and cabin crew caused disruptions.

Shares in Wizz Air (LON:WIZZ) are currently up 2.51% as of 11:35AM (GMT).