'Traditional' airlines gaining online share - 09-Mar-04.

'Traditional' airlines gaining online share - 09-Mar-04.: "EasyJet remains the clear leader in the UK online transport sector according to the latest statistics from Hitwise, but full service schedule airlines like BA have gained ground.

The no-frills airline notched up a 12.9% share of visits to UK transport sites in the week ending 28 February. This has fallen from an average 14.4% share during December 2003.


However, the share was not taken by no-frills rival Ryanair, which remains in second spot with an 8.5% share of visits to UK transport sites. This hasn�t moved significantly from 8.3% in December 2003.

The largest gain by an airline in the top ten was made by Flybe, which came seventh in the table with a 2.8% share. It previously had less than 2% of the share of visits and didn�t make the top ten. Two other airlines increased their share of visits. BA went up from fourth place to third place with a 6.7% (it was 6.3% in Dec 2003) and bmi came tenth (below bmibaby in fifth) with a 2.35% share of visits.

Three rail websites remained in the top ten but all lost share in UK visits to transport sites since December. National Rail dropped from 7.1% in December to 5.4% in the week ending 28 February, thetrainline.com also lost share from 4.2% to 3.3% and the thetrainlinestore.com lost share from 3.4% to 2.7%. "


Martha Lane Fox cashes in - 09-Mar-04.: "Martha Lane Fox, has reportedly sold off two million shares in the company, raising some GBP4.6 million in the process."


Cross-channel travellers 'desert' airlines for the train - 09-Mar-04.: "Eurostar says travellers are deserting no-frills carriers to take the train.

The train operators ebullient attitude came amid news of record passenger numbers in January and February. Eurostar carried over 1.02 million passengers in the first two months of 2004, an increase of over 20% year-on-year. "