No-frills airlines soaraway EU success

One in four flights in Europe could be with a low-cost airline like Ryanair or Easyjet by 2010, as the no-frills sector capitalises on new EU markets.

These were the findings on Monday of Europe's air travel safety group Eurocontrol.

According to its forecasts, the number of flights in Europe will grow by a modest 3-4 per cent a year.

But at the cheap end of the market growth is pegged at 20 per cent from one year to the next.

As a result, low-cost airlines are expected to increase their EU market-share from the 2 per cent registered in 2000, to 24 per cent a decade later.

The UK and Ireland have been home to most activity by no-frills airlines. "But it is clear that the focus of low-cost growth has moved Eastwards - and to some extent South, as a destination," the Eurocontrol study says.

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