No-frills airlines soar

The low-cost airlines easyJet and Go continued to enjoy strong growth in passenger numbers last month as travellers flocked to their no-frills services and left the big national airlines grounded.

EasyJet, which is based at Luton airport, carried 721,642 passengers in February, 35.8 per cent ahead of the same month a year ago, while 358,626 people flew with Go, up 74.1 per cent.

Go's chief executive, Barbara Cassani, said it had been "another excellent month" for the airline. She said: "Our figures reflect the trend of business travellers switching permanently from high-cost airlines to low-cost airlines."

No-frills operators have expanded significantly in the past 12 months, buying new planes and launching new routes.

Their success has come despite security concerns after the US terrorist attacks which hammered more expensive rivals such as BA.