2.5m fly with easyJet

Low-fare airline easyJet carried almost 2.5 million passengers last month, it was announced today.

The 2,459,735 figure for August was 24% up on that for the same month last year, the budget carrier said.

EasyJet planes were 88.6% full last month, a fractionally better performance than in August 2003 when the load factor was 88.1%.

The airline’s chief executive Ray Webster said August 2004 had been “a good month” and that the budget carrier would be offering 176 routes for the forthcoming winter season – an increase of 70 on last winter.