British low-cost airline easyJet said passenger numbers rose 16 per cent in February from a year earlier, but the percentage of seats filled on its planes fell slightly.
The airline carried 2.169 million passengers in the month, compared with 1.865 million a year ago, it said today.
Its load factor - an indication of the proportion of seats it has filled on flights - was 85.9 per cent in February, 2.7 percentage points lower than a year earlier.
Chief executive Ray Webster said in a statement passenger numbers were "satisfactory" and that the February load factor was unusually high.
The increase was in line with larger low-cost rival Ryanair - which reported a 13 per cent lift in February passengers to 2.12 million last week.
Although passenger numbers continue to rise, budget airlines face concerns over falling yields, which measure the amount of money an airline makes per passenger, as the sector's airlines fight out a price war.
EasyJet expanded aggressively in the past 12 months but has said it would slow its growth plans this year as fares fall in a crowded market.