The budget airline Easyjet today revealed a new way in which it plans to reduce costs and make more money.

The no frills airline, which many people credit with having produced the biggest shake up of the travel industry since the the introduction of the package holiday, has already shown itself to be hugely successful, with it's load factor, which shows how many seats are filled on flights, now standing at 85.2%.

This April it carried 25% more passengers than it did this time last year, and in the same month, the airline took delivery of its 37th Airbus A319 - taking its fleet up to 100 aircraft.

Nice and Easyjet does it

However the financial pressures for the company remain considerable, and the desire to keep costs down remains a business imperative.

Higher fuel prices in particular have been affecting airlines, and Easyjet is no exception. As a result, the challenge is to find ways to burn less fuel, or find ways of increasing revenue to pay for increased fuel costs.

The latest thinking from the orange airline is twofold, to tax passengers who weigh more than their Chairman, Stelios Haji-Ioannou - himself no stranger to a Happy Meal - and to reduce the amount of luggage that passengers can take on board to one item.

Stelios is under to pressure to shave more than just costs

'The impact of both policies will inevitably irk some passengers, but that's the trade off they pay for such cheapr fares' a spokesman told us.

One irrate passenger - who prefers to remain anonymous - told us of a problem he had this morning when he tried to take two dead raccoons with him on an early flight to Barcelona.

'I'm sorry sir,' the stewardess said 'only one carrion allowed per passenger.'

I thank you.

Posted by damian at May 17, 2005 09:47 AM