Budget airline easyJet has revealed its pre-tax losses in the last half-year have fallen by 58 per cent.
In the six months to March, a typically slow period for airlines, the carrier said its losses were down from £40 million to £17 million.
During the half-year 16.4 million people flew with easyJet, a rise of 11 per cent, with revenue increasing by 14 per cent to £719 million.
And the firm still expects to announce record profits for the 12 months ending September 2007 later this year, with earnings forecast to be up to 50 per cent higher on last year's results – which were themselves a record high.
"The first half of our financial year has seen growth in all areas," said easyJet chief executive Andy Harrison.
"Our winning combination of low cost with care and convenience on a network now covering 75 airports in 20 countries on nearly 300 routes continues to attract new customers.
"We continue to introduce new Airbus aircraft into our fleet, thereby maintaining one of Europe's cleanest and greenest aircraft fleets, and in April we collected our 100th Airbus A319," the easyJet chief executive concluded.
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