Demand for no-frills flights keeps growing
Demand for no-frills air travel continued unabated last month, with easyJet and Go both enjoying a surge in passenger numbers, figures out today show.
Luton-based easyJet carried 839,472 people in March, up from February’s 721,642 passengers and a 39% jump on the previous year.
Stansted-based Go flew 428,999 people in March, a 81.5% surge on the previous year and 70,373 more than in February.
Both airlines also reported an improvement in the crucial load factor, which represents passengers as a proportion of the seats available.
EasyJet’s was 85.9%, up from 82.6% a year ago, while Go’s was 83.4%. In March 2001, Go’s load factor was 74.3%.
Today’s figures come less than two months after easyJet and Go’s larger rival British Airways said it was overhauling its short-haul strategy in the face of low-cost competitors.
Unveiling its Future Size and Shape review in February, BA said it would not launch a budget service, although it did concede that it needed to shake-up its offering.
But Go chief executive Barbara Cassani said today: ‘‘These figures show that British Airways’ actions are too little, too late. The low-cost genie is well and truly out of the bottle.’’
Go - which used to be owned by BA but was sold to management and venture capitalist 3i last June - maintained last week that its own recovery was on track despite reporting a dip in passenger traffic during March.
