EasyJet has increased its profit forecast for the year to September 30 despite a challenging third quarter.
Chief executive Carolyn McCall said a good performance in the UK and beach routes across Europe helped offset the ‘difficult operational environment’ due to increased levels of disruption including French air traffic control strike action and the fire at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport.
"With 77% of second half seats now booked, easyJet expects to grow profit before tax from £581 million for the year to 30 September 2014 to a range of £620 million to £660 million for the year to 30 September 2015," she said.
Total revenue for the third quarter fell by 1.0% to £1,228 million and capacity grew by 4.7% to 20.8 million seats.
Passengers carried rose by 6.2% to 19.1 million, and the load factor increased by 1.3 percentage points to 91.7%.
Cost per seat including fuel decreased by 3.3% on a reported basis.
The French strike action and the fire at Fiumicino together caused 1,364 of the 1,463 flights cancelled in the quarter compared to a total of 648 flights cancelled in the same period last year.
The airline delivered a further £7 million of ‘sustainable’ savings in the quarter, £28 million year to date, the majority through airport and ground handling initiatives.
