London (AFP) – British no-frills airline EasyJet on Thursday said it expects to post a deeper first-half loss compared with one year earlier after the Middle East war sent jet fuel prices soaring. EasyJet said it expected a headline loss before tax of between £540 million and £560 million ($733 million and $760 million) for the six months to the end of March. The figure stood at £394 million for the equivalent period in 2025/26.
“Fuel costs in March were impacted by the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, leading to approximately £25 million of incremental costs,” the airline said in a trading update, adding its performance had been impacted by other factors including competition for customers. EasyJet publishes full first-half earnings on May 21.
“Our financial performance worsened year on year, impacted by the conflict in the Middle East and the competitive environment in some markets,” group chief executive Kenton Jarvis said in Thursday’s statement. The airline said the US-Iran conflict had “introduced near-term uncertainty around fuel costs and customer demand” but noted it was “well positioned to manage this volatility”.
The first-half was impacted also by a lift in legal provisions of about £30 million to deal with “a number of historic cases”.
© 2024 AFP
