Airlines reach landmark in recovery

A HUGE increase in low-fare flights has taken air travel above the pre-9/11 figure for the first time, it was revealed today.

This month, airlines will operate more than 2.27m flights worldwide - 111,000 more than April last year and 45,000 more than in April 2001, five months before the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US.

Statistics from data company OAG showed that there will be 30% more low-cost flights to and from the UK this month compared with last April. Budget airlines now account for 12% of all scheduled flight operations and 15% of all available seats worldwide.

The total of 100,000-plus flights of all types on offer to and from the UK this month is 7% higher than last April, as is the number of domestic flights.

This month will see budget carriers making up 300,000 of the 2.27m flights worldwide.The statistics mean that the low-fare airline share of the market has doubled in terms of flights since April 2001.

'The international aviation industry can draw considerable comfort from these figures,' said Duncan Alexander, managing director of OAG business development. But he added it was budget airlines, such as easyJet and Ryanair, that were driving passenger.

'The low-cost phenomenon continues to break all records. Compared with this time last year, low-fare airlines are operating 19% more flights, and offering 20% more seats.'

Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are showing the most dramatic year-on-year growth in low-cost operations, but all major world regions are showing double-digit percentage increases over April 2004.

Meanwhile, monthly traffic figures for airports operator BAA showed holidaymakers flocked to the check-in counters for Easter deals. About 11.6m passengers passed through its airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, in March - an increase of 7.7% on last year.

Gatwick was the biggest winner with passenger numbers up 15.4% during the month. Passenger numbers passing through London's number two airport for the year ending March exceeded 32m, the highest since the year to September 2001.

BAA, headed by chief executive Mike Clasper, handled 141.7m passengers overall, a 6.3% rise on 2003, during the same period.

Stripping out the effect of Easter, traffic figures overall were still up by 5% in March compared with a year ago, bolstered by passengers opting for low-cost airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair, where totals were up just over a fifth. This helped traffic in the European scheduled market, up 9.7% over the year.

Stansted benefited from the increase with 9.1% more traffic on last year. Heathrow's March numbers rose 5.2%. But continuing pressure from budget airlines - with increasing numbers of holidaymakers organising their own flights and hotels - took a bite out of the European charter market, which fell by 1.9%.

Long-haul flights outside North America were the best performers, up 14.1%, while North Atlantic markets were 3.3% ahead.