Budget airline, easyJet, has reported soaring growth for July as no-frills carriers continue to benefit from a rising tide of holiday-makers seeking cheap getaways across Europe.
EasyJet, which last week completed its acquisition of smaller rival Go, said today it carried 1.08 million passengers in July, up 61.7 per cent on last year. It said Go's passenger numbers in July jumped 58.8 per cent year-on-year to 645,598.
The combined passenger volume outstrips that of previous European market leader Ryanair which earlier this week said it had carried about 1.46 million passengers in July, up from 1.03 million in July 2001.
EasyJet's July passenger figures were 12.5 per cent higher than the preceding month, with Go's month-on-month growth 17.2 per cent.
EasyJet said its load factor, a measure of the average number of seats sold as a proportion of capacity, was 87.9 per cent in July, better than last year. Go had a load factor of 87 per cent in July.
The budget carriers are among the few growing in an industry which was one of the worst hit in the wake of the September 11th attacks.
They are also one of the main sources of orders for new planes, providing succour to aircraft makers such as Boeing Co and Airbus SAS which have been hit by a drop in demand from other airlines.
EasyJet, which hitherto has flown only Boeing 737s, has said it is in talks with both Boeing and Airbus on placing a firm order for about 120 aircraft and will probably take an option to double that order.
Ryanair has ordered 100 new Boeing aircraft through to 2010 with an option on a further 50 planes.