Budget airline easyJet PLC on Tuesday said revenue per seat for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 rose, and that capacity growth in the first half would be slower than previously expected.
The airline EZJ, +4.28% said first-half capacity is expected to grow 1.5%, primarily dragged by French air-traffic control strikes. The airline had previously expected growth of around 1.7%.
EasyJet said it expects its first-half pretax loss to narrow. Pretax loss for the first half of fiscal 2019 was 275 million pounds ($357.4 million).
For the three months ended Dec. 31, the company said its revenue per seat–an important metric for airlines–on a constant-currency basis rose 8.8% to GBP58.63 compared with GBP53.89 for the first quarter of fiscal 2019.
The budget air carrier raised its guidance for revenue per seat at constant currency for the first half and said it expects it to increase by mid- to high-single digits. The company had previously guided for an increase of low- to mid-single digits.
Total revenue for the first quarter was GBP1.42 billion compared with GBP1.30 billion the year before.
The airline said 75% of first-half seats have now been booked, and that this was just over 1 percentage point ahead the first quarter of fiscal 2019.