'Third of all flights on budget airlines'

The low-fare airline boom is continuing, with a big increase in the number of no-frills flights this month, it was revealed today.

Of the 113,000 flights in and out of the UK in October 2005, almost a third are being operated by low-cost carriers, flight information company OAG said.

The total of 5.5 million low-cost airline seats on sale this month on flights to and from the UK is a 24% increase on the October 2004 total.

“The low-cost business model just keeps on growing,” said OAG business development managing director Duncan Alexander.

The total number of flights in and out of the UK this month is 10% more than in October 2004. The UK total has helped boost the number of flights within Europe to 550,000 – a 4% rise on the October 2004 figure.

Overall, the world’s airlines will operate more than 2.35 million flights this month – 2% more than in October 2004. As many as 272 million seats are on sale in October 2005 – a 4% increase on the same month last year.

OAG said flights to and from Africa are up 10% this month, while the Middle East has a 9% increase, Asia/Pacific a 7% rise and North America a 4% rise.

Spain is also enjoying a low-cost flight bonanza – with no-frills’ flights within the country rising 160% this month compared with October 2004 and budget flights to and from Spain increasing 25%.