UPDATE 1-EasyJet September traffic up 5.3 percent

* Carries 5.3 pct more passengers last month than Sept 08

* Load factor rises 1.2 pct points to 88.1 pct

(Adds details)

LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Low-cost airline easyJet (EZJ.L) carried 5.3 percent more passengers in September year-on-year, boosting hopes that demand for budget air travel was recovering from the slump caused by the global recession.

The airline carried 4.42 million passengers last month, up from the 4.19 million it flew in the same month a year earlier, while its load factor -- a measure of how well it fills planes -- rose 1.2 percentage points to 88.1 percent.

Budget Irish airline Ryanair (RYA.I) on Monday said it had carried 17 percent more passengers last month than it did in the same month a year earlier. [ID:nDUB001119]

However, British Airways BAY.L on Monday said it carried 0.8 percent fewer passengers in September year-on-year, as premium, or business class, passenger numbers continued to tumble, falling 7.9 percent on September 2008. [ID:nL5032554]

Air traffic demand is recovering from the slump caused by the economic downturn but the industry remains well away from a return to profit, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said late last month.

IATA said it expected a loss of $11 billion for the industry in 2009 and a $3.8 billion loss in 2010. [ID:nLT509941]

Shares in EasyJet, which have jumped 40 percent in the last three months, closed at 378.90 pence on Monday, valuing the group at around 1.6 billion pounds ($2.55 billion).

(Reporting by Rhys Jones; editing by Victoria Bryan)