DESPITE the embarrassment of losing Tony Blair's custom to rival Ryanair, thousands more passengers are still flocking to no-frills airline easyJet.
During August, Luton-based easyJet carried 698,350 passengers, a 19.1 per cent jump on the same month a year earlier and up on the 666,973 carried in July.
The group said the rise resulted from having a 24-strong fleet of planes - six more than last year.
More passengers were also choosing to buy tickets online, and Internet sales moved from 80.8 per cent of sales last year to 88.5 per cent, although they dipped from the 89.5 per cent recorded in July.
Last month, the group thought Mr Blair had chosen easyJet to fly his family on their summer holiday this year.
The firm had based an advertising campaign on Mr Blair's choice of airlines, only to discover he was using Irish rival Ryanair instead. It had to cross out Mr Blair's name on poster adverts and replace it with the word ''oops''.
Ryanair yesterday reported a 35 per cent jump in passenger numbers during August to just over one million
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