Easyjet to cut growth in capacity

Sep 18 2008 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL’S second- biggest airline, Easyjet, will suffer a marked slowdown in its growth this winter as it grapples with the sharp downturn in consumer spending.

The budget carrier, which operates 18 routes out of Liverpool John Lennon Airport, said it was reducing its capacity growth this winter to a “low single-digit percentage over the previous winter”.

Easyjet also said it still expected full-year pre-tax profit to fall to between £110m and £120m, not including a one-off cost of £12m related to the takeover of GB Airways.

Jobless total grows to 1.7m

THE Government was hit by a fresh bout of bad economic news when unemployment reached its worst level for almost a decade yesterday. There were 1.72m people out of work in the three months to July, up by 81,000 from the previous quarter and the highest total since 1999. The number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance rose for the seventh month in a row in August, by 32,500 to 904,900, the biggest monthly rise since December 1992.

Gatwick sale

AIRPORT operator BAA put the For Sale sign up over Gatwick airport yesterday in a move likely to spark a lively bidding war. Almost as soon as the Spanish-owned company announced it was selling the West Sussex airport, Sir Richard Branson’s airline Virgin Atlantic said it relished the chance to run it. Manches-ter Airport Group, which operates four UK airports, also said it was keen to take over Gatwick, while German company Hochtief is among a number of interested overseas businesses.

£100m loss

AILING high street chain Woolworths reported losses of almost £100m for the six months to the start of August. While the group generates the majority of its business in the run-up to Christmas, Woolworths said the results highlighted the “operational issues and strategic challenges” faced at its retail arm. Sales for the retail business were £660.7m in the half-year, down 3.2%, while the company’s entertainment, wholesale, and publishing arm posted flat sales of £446.3m. Overall group losses of £99.7m compared with a deficit of £63.8m a year earlier.