EasyJet soars but price war takes toll

THE British love affair with cheap air travel continued to boost budget airline easyJet last month. But the company's passenger figures also highlight the decline in ticket prices.

The airline carried 2.17m passengers in February, compared with 1.87m a year ago, representing a 16% rise.

Total passenger numbers for the 12 months to February were 26.4m, up nearly 23%. However, the total paid by customers for their flights was up less, at 18.5%. The increase was from £992m to £1.18bn, signalling that customers are paying less per flight.

While passenger numbers continue to rise, budget airlines face concerns over decreases in the amount they make from each customer.

EasyJet expanded aggressively in the past 12 months but has said it would slow its growth plans this year as fares fall in the crowded market.

The percentage of seats filled on easyJet planes fell slightly. Its load factor - an indication of the proportion of seats it has filled on flights - was 85.9% in February, down from 88.6% a year earlier.

Chief executive Ray Webster said passenger numbers were 'satisfactory'. The increase was ahead of larger low-cost rival Ryanair which reported a 13% lift in February passengers to 2.12m last week.

Webster also said the airline expected to carry more than 3m passengers to and from Berlin in 2005 on 27 new routes. The airline made the city a new base 12 months ago and is already the largest low-cost carrier to fly out of the German captial. New routes were also announced, to Gatwick, and Milan and Rome in Italy.

Shares in easyJet, which have nearly doubled since hitting a low of 118p in September, were up 2¼p at 227p in early trading.