NO-FRILLS airline easyJet saw passenger figures climb steadily last month - but the proportion of seats filled was on the slide.

The Luton Airport carrier carried just under 1.9 million passengers last month. The 75 per cent increase on last year's figures was boosted by the company's takeover of rival low-cost airline Go.

But if separate figures for easyJet and Go from last July are taken together, the rise was a more modest nine per cent.

EasyJet's load factor, which measures the proportion of available seats filled, was down from 87.9 per cent a year ago to 85.6 per cent last month. Taken over the previous year, easyJet planes were 83.8 per cent full.

Last month's load factor showed a slight decline on June when easyJet planes were 85.8 per cent full.

Ray Webster, chief executive, said: "Particularly pleasing is the achievement of load factors in the mid-eighties, which confirms the appeal to passengers of our combination of attractive fares and convenient airports."

Figures released earlier this week from rival Ryanair show that the Irish carrier eclipsed easyJet in terms of passenger numbers - topping two million for the first time.

Meanwhile, British Airways flew 3.27 million passengers but with a load factor of only 76.4 per cent.