EasyJet shares take off after carrier cuts its losses

Shares in easyJet rose by 7.5 per cent after the budget carrier slashed its losses forecast yesterday thanks to good weather, other carriers going bust, and passengers being charged higher fees.

The airline said its revenues will rise 10 per cent in the six months to April, up from an earlier estimate of single-digit growth. That is mainly due to what it calls "ancillary earnings" – in January easyJet replaced its booking fee with a £9 administration charge and made passengers using credit and debit cards pay an extra 2.5 per cent.

The carrier also said its de-icing costs had fallen by £18m compared with a year ago, helped by "benign weather conditions" compared to the previous year.

It added that it had " taken advantage as weaker competitors have left the market over the last couple of months".

Spanair, of Catalonia and Hungary's Malev are among the European airlines to collapse this year.