The low cost airline company RyanAir Holdings Plc reportedly increased passenger numbers by 11% to 72.7 million while EasyJet Plc boosted the number by 7.9% to 49.7 million last year, extending its lead over its UK rival British Airways plc in the European short-haul market.

EasyJet had an average delay of 25.2 minutes of each flight between January and September 2010. The RyanAir had 12.5 minutes and the British Airways 13.6 minutes.

Virgin Atlantic had a delay of 26.2 minutes and BMI flights made just 5.7 minutes delay.

Only 12.3% of the EasyJet flights were delayed during the period from January to November 2010 as compared with 3.8% for RyanAir. RyanAir only charged £40 as credit card fees to a family of four while booking their return flights, while easyJet had a flat fee of £5.50 per booking on debit cards and additional 2.5% for credit cards.

During July-August, RyanAir charged £60 for a baggage over 20kg on return flights while EasyJet had a variable charge depending on the route. The weight limit for a hand luggage for RyanAir passenger was 10kg while EasyJet had no such impositions.

Due to this steep competition from the low cost competitors, British Airways Plc has reduced its focus on short-haul travels. They are now more concentrating on inter-continental routes.