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John Dundas · Guest

Discount air travel boom continues
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1057786,00.html
Press Association
Tuesday October 7, 2003

The boom in low-cost air travel shows little sign of easing, according to
figures released by two major players in the sector today.
EasyJet, the discount carrier, said that it had carried 1.89 million
passengers during September, an increase of 18.6% on a year earlier.

At the same time, airports operator TBI reported growth of 29% in the number
of passengers using low-cost services from its four European airports.

TBI said that the launch of Bmibaby services from Cardiff International and
the use of Stockholm-Skavsta by Ryanair had fuelled the growth rate.

At Luton, low-cost passenger numbers rose by 3% to 1.4 million in the
three-month period to September, as TBI offset the drop in charter traffic
following tour operator MyTravel's decision to withdraw services from the
airport.

EasyJet has told TBI that it intends to increase its fleet at Luton from 12
to at least 14, and Italian low-cost operator Volare is to establish a base
there.

TBI, which also operates Belfast International airport, said that almost
two-thirds of its passengers now used low-cost airlines.

In total, numbers during the three months increased by 14% to 4.2 million,
despite the loss of full-service flights at Belfast and Cardiff.

Meanwhile, EasyJet, which acquired rival no-frills airline Go last year,
said that the proportion of passengers per available seats had grown to
85.9%, from 84.7% a year earlier.

Ray Webster, the chief executive, said: "Both our passenger numbers and load
factors - the proportion of seats filled - continued to grow as planned in
September, reflecting the effectiveness of our low-cost model."

Earlier this month, Ryanair said that it carried 2.02 million passengers in
September, an increase of 49% on the same month last year.