Budget airline easyJet carried 8.3 per cent more passengers last month than a year ago, but added its planes were less full.

The airline, which has its main base at Luton, yesterday said 2.3 million people flew on its planes during November - its tenth anniversary - boosting the figure to 30.1 million across the previous 12 months.

But easyJet added that its load factor - which shows how full its planes are - fell to 80.2 per cent last month from 81.2 per cent on November 2004.

Revenues for the month increased 21.2 per cent to £1.37 billion, not including passenger tax.

Chief executive Andrew Harrison, who took the helm this month, said while the company was increasing its number of planes and routes it expected slower growth in this financial year, which began on October 1, than the 25 per cent seen this time last year.

The increase in passenger numbers was helped by the launch of 54 new routes since November 2004.

These include Gatwick to Cork and Valencia, Luton to Grenoble and Sardinia, Belfast to Majorca and Naples, and Newcastle to Ibiza.

November also represented the first time easyJet had carried more than 30 million passengers in a 12-month period.

Mr Harrison said: "This reflects the demand for lowcost air travel and our ability to meet it."

EasyJet launched from Luton with a service to Glasgow on November 10 1995. Ten years on, more than 100 million people have used the distinctive orange and white planes.

In November, easyJet reported profit before tax of £85 million for the year to September 30. Shares closed up 6.75p at 358p. Mr Harrison said the company expected to see "mid to high single-digit percentage profit growth" for the current year.

"While we aim to grow our capacity by 15 per cent this year, the first part of the year will show a lower growth rate due to the growth in excess of 25 per cent this time last year," he said. On Tuesday rival nofrills airline Ryanair reported a 25 per cent year-on-year increase in passengers for November.

Meanwhile, Air France-KLM yesterday reported a 12.2 per cent rise in November passenger traffic, with capacity increasing eight per cent.

The Franco-Dutch airline said it had benefited from rising passenger numbers in all its key markets.

Air France-KLM added that its overall load factor rose 2.9 points to 78.6 per cent.

It said traffic on its American routes rose 17.3 per cent, Asian traffic increased 15.5 per cent while its European network saw record levels of activity with traffic rising 8.9 per cent. The airline's cargo activity posted a 3.5 per cent rise in traffic, although its cargo load factor fell 2.9 points to 69.3 per cent.