High fuel costs batter EasyJet revenue

The total revenue of EasyJet has gone down by 50 per cent to about £54 million, despite the increase in its air travel passenger numbers, market share and load factors. The airline company blamed this year’s higher fuel prices for the drop in earnings, with EastJet’s 2009 oil expenditure costing approximately £86 million higher than 2008.

However, some key indicators of the EasyJet report were positive. The budget airline managed to carry around 45 million air travellers this year, boosting its overall short-haul market share in Europe by 3.4 per cent. The load factors were also up by 1.2 per cent to 85.5 per cent.

In terms of seats flow, EasyJet’s overall capacity had increased by 1.8 per cent. In the UK, its capacity at Gatwick was up by 12 per cent, giving the budget carrier a 30 per cent share of the airport. Similarly, Easyjet’s capacity has raised in Spain, France and Italy, with increases of 16 per cent, 30 per cent and 78 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, business travel is now becoming an important money-maker for EasyJet, with 15 per cent of its travellers originating through business-oriented distribution channels. Airline data also suggests that business passengers usually book their tickets late, making them pay extra 20 per cent than the air flight’s normal fare.

EasyJet’s revenue loss contrasts its competitor Ryanair, which recently revealed near quadrupling pre-tax first half revenue to about £374 million. However, Ryanair had earlier itself stumbled by having a £114 million pre-tax loss during the third quarter.