The boom in cheap flights from Leeds Bradford Airport shows no sign of abating as the parent company of no-frills Jet2.com announced record profits.

Despite soaring fuel costs and increasing competition, the Dart Group Plc made a pre-tax profit of £14.7 million during the year up to March 2006, with a turnover of more than £319 million.

Passenger numbers rose by ten per cent during April and the airline carried 1.2 million passengers from Leeds Bradford airport during 2005 40 per cent of the airport's total holiday traffic. It recently announced a new service between Leeds-Bradford and Dusseldorf in northern Germany just in time for the World Cup.

Steve Lee, Jet2.com's commercial director, said a combination of attractive destinations and competitive prices was the reason behind the airline's continuing success.

He said: "If the price is low enough then people will want to travel. We have launched many services here and we are always encouraged by the response.

"We have 21 destinations from here and things are going well we hope to announce another two in coming months.

"Most of the business Jet2.com does in the UK is in the north of England, so it made sense to bring the HQ to Leeds-Bradford.

"The new Dusseldorf service has been popular not just because of the World Cup but because of business and tourist interest between the two areas.

"We are currently involved in a project with the Yorkshire Tourist Board to bring people over from Germany to stay in our hotels and eat in our restaurants around the Bradford area and spend their money here."

Yesterday's results came as Jet2 begins to relocate its Bournemouth headquarters to the airport in Yeadon. As previously reported, the move will create more than 100 jobs.

Jet2.com flies to 26 destinations across Europe and is expanding all the time.

The airline recently expanded its aircraft fleet with the addition of three large Boeing 757 aircraft which seat 235 people with a further one due to begin flying in August.

Jet2 and Dart Group chairman Philip Meeson said: "With the growing propensity for people to own overseas properties, take more frequent holidays and leisure breaks in exciting and attractive European cities and probably to retire to sunnier climes, we believe that there is huge potential growth in the leisure air travel market.

"Jet2.com is now one of the most recognised air travel brands in the North and we are well positioned to grow this business."

e-mail: mark.casci@bradford.newsquest.co.uk