EasyJet sees first-half loss cut by Easter demand

Cold weather in Britain and Northern Europe also helps boost bookings

British carrier easyJet said it would nearly halve its first-half loss, helped by Easter falling earlier than a year ago and strong bookings from customers wanting to escape recent cold weather in Britain and Northern Europe.

The budget airline said today it now expects a pretax loss for the six-months to end-March, a traditionally loss-making period, of between £60 million and £65 million, narrowing its previous guidance of between £50 million to £75 million.

It made a pretax loss of £112 million for the same period a year ago.

The company said revenue per seat grew by about 8.5 per cent, better then the 6 to 8 per cent it previously expected, driven by strong bookings in the run up to Easter.

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Capacity on its flights rose by about 3.3 per cent, slightly short of its 3.5 per cent forecast, it said, due to the bad weather causing a higher-than-expected number of cancellations.

Reuters