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EasyJet sees worse loss
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- EasyJet Plc, Europe's biggest budget airline, said on Monday the number of passengers it carried in March soared by third but its first-half loss would be made worse by the timing of Easter and the weakness in fares. "The impact of these lower fares has been reduced by aggressive cost control,'' said easyJet in a statement, adding that savings included the recent announcement that it was closing its call centre at London's Stansted airport. The average fare for the half to March 31 was 37.44 pounds ($58.65), down 10.7 percent on last year, but the benefits of reducing costs would not show until later in the year, said easyJet, which acquired rival no-frills airline Go last year. EasyJet said it had promoted passenger volumes over fare levels in response to Easter holidays this year falling outside its first half, in preparation for, and the onset of, war in Iraq and to boost the load factors at Go. "Although current forward bookings are robust, the overall profile of the last quarter's revenue, and hence the full year outcome, will not become apparent for at least several months,'' said easyJet, which has traditionally posted a first half loss. The airline also said in the closing days of March it ran a one-week sale to test Europeans' willingness to travel this summer, the main revenue-generating season for easyJet. "The sale confirmed that easyJet can generate a strong consumer response despite a difficult market environment,'' said easyJet. The airline said it carried 1.713 million passengers in March, up 32.2 percent on the 1.296 million it carried in the same month last year, based on combined figures with Go. Its load factor, which measures the number of passengers carried as a proportion of available seats, was 85.8 percent in March, up slightly from 85 percent last year. Shares in easyJet closed on Friday at 226-1/2 pence. Rival Irish no-frills airline Ryanair Holdings Plc said last week it had a 39 percent jump in passengers carried to 1.416 million passengers in March.
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