easyJet has seen its loss before tax increase in the first half of its financial year from £394m in H1 2025 to £552m in the six months to 31 March.

The airline reported that in this period, its group revenue increased by 12% to £3.95bn, while its passenger revenue jumped by 10% to £2.36bn.

Furthermore, its holidays division saw its revenue grow by 30% to £518m.

However, easyJet has had to take actions to navigate the near-term volatility caused by the Middle East conflict.

As a result, it has applied a layered approach to jet fuel hedging to provide near-term mitigation of fuel price volatility, and also reviewed its schedule, resulting in a 0.3% net seat reduction for this summer.

However, the airline does intend to operate the full summer schedule on sale as planned.

easyJet chief executive officer, Kenton Jarvis, stated: “Despite conflict in the Middle East creating near term uncertainty, easyJet is well placed to manage the current environment, supported by one of the strongest investment grade balance sheets in European aviation.

“We delivered a strong operational performance in the first half, with positive demand driving a 90% load factor, up two ppts vs last year, and further improved customer satisfaction, alongside continued growth in our holidays business.”

In its outlook, easyJet said that there remains some uncertainty in the rest of its financial year due to the current external environment, with fuel prices remaining elevated and lower than normal visibility of forward bookings.

As a result, its airline forward bookings have fallen by two percentage points year-on-year in H2 to 58%.

However, its headline cost per available seat kilometre is set to grow by low single digits in the full year, while its seat capacity growth is expected to increase by 3%.

Equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, Aarin Chiekrie, said the airline has being "doing a lot right of late", including upgrading its fleet and setting up strategic hubs in Italy.

He concluded: "On average, more of its available seats have been getting filled too. However, these investments have weighed on profitability. Alongside some one-off legal expenses and higher operating costs, first-half losses have widened in line with recently downgraded guidance.

"Looking ahead, the picture remains challenging. Demand is taking a hit, with bookings for the second half tracking two percentage points below last year’s levels as sunseekers leave it later to lock in their travel plans. On top of this, easyJet operates with single-digit margins and historically spends around 25% of its revenue on fuel. That makes it one of the more sensitive European airlines to fuel price fluctuations.

"The recent spike in fuel prices looks set to take a big toll on profitability. Even if the Middle East conflict is resolved in the near term, fuel prices are likely to remain elevated for some time. As a result, we expect this year's and next year’s profits to come in well below 2025 levels."

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