11/06/2002

Budget airlines reveal increasing passenger numbers

Budget airline easyJet and potential merger partner Go have unveiled increased passenger numbers for May.

On Tuesday easyJet said they carried 898,080 passengers in May, 43% more than in the same period last year, while Go said they carried just over 500,000 passengers in May, 89% more than it did the year before.

Currently mid-way through a planned £374 million takeover of Go, easyJet expect shareholders to approve the move at their annual meeting next week.

The easyJet-Go combination will create Europe's biggest no-frills airline, while providing stiff competition for Ryanair.

However, Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary dismissed the suggestion that the tie-up between rivals easyJet and Go would make the market tougher for Ryanair. Mr O'Leary said all three carriers were competing with the high fare carriers, such as BA and Lufthansa, but at the lower end of the market, easyJet and Go didn't really compete with Ryanair because they were trying to be a slightly lower fare carrier at the main airports.

(MB)

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