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Easyjet makes huge winter loss
Easyjet made a headline £212 million loss over the winter, a huge leap on the £21 million lost the previous winter.
The airline confirmed this morning that total losses for the six month period to the end of March reached £236 million, up from £18 million during the first six months of 2016.
Chief executive Carolyn McCall blamed currency fluctuations, which she said cost the airline £82 million, and other factors, including the late Easter, which fell in the second half of the year.
Revenue rose 3.2% to £1.83 billion and load factors rose to 90.2%, a record for the first half of the year, following a 9% rise in traffic to 33.8 million passengers.
Nevertheless, the airline’s share price dropped 4.5% this morning.
McCall said the first half loss was in line with market expectations and blamed it on ‘the movement of Easter into the second half as well as currency effects, which together had an estimated impact of £127 million on the bottom line’.
McCall said she was expecting an improvement in the second half of the year as summer bookings are ahead of last year.
"Demand to fly remains strong and reflects growing confidence that consumers are prioritising expenditure on flights and holidays above other non-essential items," she said.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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