Go flying high in low-fares boom

BRITISH and European air travellers are continuing to flock to the low-fare carriers, latest figures reveal. Luton-based easyJet said it carried just over 700,000 passengers in January, up more than 30% year-on-year, while rival Stansted-based Go's passenger numbers that month rose 74% to 319,000.

The figures follow on from Ryanair, the biggest of the budget carriers, which earlier this week said it increased its January passenger numbers by 50% to 807,000.

The performance of the no-frills airlines is in stark contrast to loss-making British Airways. It revealed this week that its British and European short-haul operations flew more than 100,000 fewer passengers at 1.8m in January, a fall of 5.6%.

While the budget airline yields have been hit by the price war and discount mania, the carriers differ markedly on load factor - an indicator of how full aircraft are and of the fleets' efficiency. The load factor at Go, run by Barbara Cassani, came in at 66% against Ryanair's 72% and easyJet's 82%. BA's load factor on short haul was 53%.

BA last year sold Go to a management team.