BUDGET airline easyJet today reported an increase in passengers for May, despite cancelling 1,600 flights due to the volcanic ash crisis.

More than 4.25 million passengers travelled with the carrier last month, up from 3.9 million in May 2009. The company said it achieved the 7.9% increase despite grounding flights and turning away some 215,000 travellers due to restrictions caused by the ash cloud.

The airline’s load factor - which measures how well planes are filled - also rose from 83.5% to 85.8%.

The company released the figures as it revealed plans to use new technology to minimise future disruption from volcanic ash.

The carrier will be the first airline to trial a new "weather radar for ash" system called AVOID (Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector).