No-frills airline Easyjet has reported a sharp increase in passenger numbers.

The company said on Monday that it carried 839,472 passengers in March, 39% up on the same period one year ago.

And Easyjet's 'load factor' - the number of seats sold as a percentage of total capacity - rose to 85.9% from 82.6% in March 2001.

Investors welcomed the figures, marking Easyjet's shares 12p higher to 527p in early trade on Monday.

Resilience

The figures provide further evidence that Easyjet is leading the way out of the sharp downturn that hit the European air travel industry after the 11 September attacks.

Budget airlines such as Easyjet and Ireland-based rival Ryanair escaped the worst of the post-11 September slump thanks to aggressive discounting.

Their short-haul routes, seen as less vulnerable to terrorist attacks, also helped to keep passenger numbers steady.

But full-service carriers, especially those with heavy dependence on transatlantic routes, have been hit hard by a sharp drop in bookings over the last six months.

Easyjet is currently in talks with aircraft makers Boeing and Airbus over the purchase of up to 75 new airplanes.