Shares in EasyJet moved higher on Tuesday after the UK’s leading low-cost airline said passenger numbers rose at the fastest pace in five months in September.

In another sign of the relative strength of short-haul, low-cost carriers over long-haul flag carriers in the downturn, EasyJet said it had just more than 4.4m passengers last month, an increase of 5.3 per cent over the same month last year.