Commenting on the results, Andy Harrison, easyJet Chief Executive said:

“easyJet continues to grow in size and strength. GB Airways was smoothly integrated and is delivering larger than expected benefits and has made us number one at Gatwick. We are continuing to grow rapidly in mainland Europe, especially in Italy and France where we have opened new bases during the first half of the year. easyJet now operates Europe’s number one air transport network with 280 million Europeans living within an hour’s drive of an easyJet flight. These moves also helped to drive the 15% increase in the number of passengers carried. Our load factors remain robust and our forward bookings are slightly ahead of this time last year.

Oil remains the biggest challenge and uncertainty. The price of jet fuel has risen 35% over the last three months and is now 80% higher than last year. Nobody knows how much of this increase is driven by short term financial speculation and how much is a longer term sustainable increase. What is certain is that if these fuel increases are maintained many of our weaker competitors will disappear or downsize and easyJet will emerge even stronger reflecting the combination of our business model, our cost advantage, our new fuel efficient fleet and the strength of our network.”

easyJet has continued to develop its business successfully with passenger numbers increasing by 15% to 18.9 million and total revenue per seat increasing by 8.1%. The operating environment for the airline industry, however, has become more demanding in the past six months with unit fuel costs rising to unprecedented levels.

Total revenue grew by 24% to £892.2 million compared to £719.0 million last year. Loss before tax for the first half of 2008, in total, amounted to £57.5 million. This includes £9.1 million of one-off costs associated with the integration of GB Airways. GB Airways’ trading loss in the first half was £7.0 million. The underlying easyJet loss was £41.4 million compared to a loss of £17.1 million in the previous year, driven by higher fuel costs which increased by £67.0 million.

A major success for easyJet has been the acquisition of GB Airways. The acquisition has enabled easyJet to improve its position at its largest base, Gatwick and has enhanced the Group’s platform in the north west of England with the opening of a new base at Manchester. The combined business gives easyJet around 29% of departing passengers at Gatwick and presents opportunities for cost reduction and value creation particularly in the area of overheads, aircraft ownership and airport operating costs.

Highlights of easyJet Report

Total revenue up 24% to £892.2 million with underlying pre tax margin in line with expectations

Passenger numbers up 15% to 18.9 million

Load factors at 81% in line with the prior year

Total revenue per seat (excluding GB Airways and exchange movements) up 1.5% compared to last year

Cost per seat (excluding fuel, GB Airways and exchange movements) down by 0.9% compared to last year

Unit fuel costs up 24% per seat compared to last year
Mainland European expansion continued with a new base opened at Paris Charles de Gaulle and at Lyon

GB Airways successfully integrated both commercially and operationally

Forward bookings remain robust

Source: easyJet.com