The UK-based no-frills airlines believe that demand for low-cost air travel is returning to normal in Europe in the wake of the terrorist assault on the US.

Barbara Cassani, chief executive of Go, said that bookings in the wake of the attacks were down about 20 per cent but had recovered last week to near the levels before September 11.

The number of passengers failing to show up for flights had shown "a small increase" after the attacks but had also returned to normal last week.

"Business travellers are coming back and leisure passengers are continuing to fly," said Ms Cassani.

The experience at Go has been similar to that of Ryanair, which said last week that bookings had "returned to normal levels" after a fall of 20 per cent on the Wednesday and Thursday following the attacks and an overall drop of 10 per cent in the week.

EasyJet, the Luton-based rival low-cost carrier, is expected to issue a trading statement along similar lines on Monday.

All three low-cost airlines have launched an array of promotional seat sales and special offers to try to overcome customers' fear of flying in the wake of the attacks.

Ms Cassani said that low-cost carriers would be "much less affected" than traditional airlines by the aviation crisis, although it was clear that the economic environment would continue to be challenging.

"With no exposure to the north Atlantic, and much lower fixed costs, low-cost airlines can manage their businesses more flexibly to remain profitable," she said.

Security procedures have settled down. Ms Cassani said that initial delays of two to three hours had been reduced to 20 to 30 minutes and would be eliminated as passengers learned to check in earlier.

The low-cost airlines have launched a concerted lobbying campaign to dissuade European governments from providing state aid to loss-making flag carriers in the wake of the US attacks.

In the UK they have appealed to the government for general support to restore confidence by removing passenger duty to lower airfares and stimulate traffic.

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The no-frills airlines could face higher pilot costs following a ballot of EasyJet's 261 pilots in which 75 per cent voted in favour of representation by the pilots union, Balpa.

The union said it was now targeting Ryanair, the only major passenger airline with which it did not have an agreement. The company was "stonewalling" and the issue had been referred to the government's central arbitration committee.