EASYJET confirmed 50 head office jobs are to go as it
reported a first-half loss of £48 million.
The jobs will be cut as the integration
of EasyJet and Go’s head offices nears completion and the airline looks to
strip out duplication of costs. It started a consultation period with 114
Stansted-based Go staff last month.
The low-cost carrier, which traditionally records a
loss during the first-half, said this year’s figure was exacerbated by the late
Easter holiday and a 10% reduction in fares to stimulate demand.
It also had to write off £9.2 million over its
termination of the option to purchase Deutsche BA.
However, chief executive Ray Webster remained bullish.
“Our business model remains robust and it is clear, as we move towards the
busy summer period, that passengers are still willing to travel within Europe and
they are responsive to price,” he said.
Passenger numbers rose by 40% during the period,
fuelled by the integration of Go’s traffic into the figures.
Ryanair continued its assault
on its low-cost rival by offering 48,000 free seats to match the number of
millions EasyJet lost in the period.