EasyJet reports tough first half
High fuel costs and taxation have taken their toll on easyJet in the first half.
The airline has almost doubled its pre-tax loss to £153 million, up £74 million over last year.
EasyJet said the higher price of fuel accounts for £43 million and higher passenger taxation accounts for £21 million of the increase.
Passenger numbers were up by almost 12% to 23.9 million with 59% originating from outside the UK, up five percentage points.
Load factor improved by 0.4 percentage points to 85.4%.
But total revenue per seat fell by 2.1%, partly down to increased passenger departure taxes and charges.
Chief executive Carolyn McCall said: “The past six months has been tough with sharply rising fuel costs combined with cautious behaviour by consumers and an adverse impact from taxes on passengers.
“Despite this difficult environment we have made strong progress over the past six months in implementing the strategy outlined following our review of the business last year.
“Our top team has been rebuilt and we continue to optimise the network by configuring flight frequencies and destinations which are attractive to business travellers.
"We have also made use of the commercial freedom granted by the brand licence agreement and delivered progress in controlling costs. Our operation is now robust and we are well placed to successfully deliver our summer flying programme.
“Our cash generation remains strong and these results show that the steps we are taking are already having a positive effect.”
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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