UK budget carrier EasyJet's first-half pre-tax loss has doubled to £153 million ($250 million).
The airline says the figure is "in line with expectations" and says the £74 million increase in its pre-tax loss is mainly due to increases in fuel costs and passenger taxation.
Passenger numbers for the period rose by 11.6% to nearly 24 million, while load factor increased slightly to 85.4%.
In the six months to 31 March 2011 the low-cost airline's revenues increased by 8% to £1.27 billion, although total revenue per seat - at constant currency - fell by 2.1%.
Costs per seat, excluding fuel and disruption from weather and strikes, fell by 2.8%.
"The past six months have been tough with sharply rising fuel costs combined with cautious behaviour by consumers and an adverse impact from taxes on passengers," says EasyJet chief Carolyn McCall.
"Despite this difficult environment we have made strong progress over the past six months in implementing the strategy outlined following our review of the business last year.
"Our cash generation remains strong and these results show that the steps we are taking are already having a positive effect."
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
