50 jobs to go and £48 million loss at EasyJet

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.