EasyJet halves H1 loss, cuts fares in weaker market

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LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - British low-cost airline easyJet (EZJ.L) said on Wednesday it had more than halved its traditional first-half loss and had lowered ticket prices to offset weaker market conditions in the second half.

"We continue to see pressure on yields in the summer," said Chief Executive Andy Harrison. "In the second half, we have reduced many of our lead-in fares and increased our promotional activity to sustain high load factors in weaker market conditions."

EasyJet's shares have fallen by about 15 percent since last Thursday when rival Ryanair (RYA.I) said new passenger taxes were hitting yields. EasyJet mirrored those comments on Tuesday, saying revenue per seat had fallen in April. EasyJet's first-half pretax loss was 17 million pounds

($33.9 million) in the six months to March, down 58 percent from 40 million last year.

The airline expects to accelerate the growth of available seats this summer, leading to 15 percent growth for the full year to September.

"We anticipate further progress on unit cost reductions, excluding fuel, in the second half," said Harrison. "And for the full year we anticipate unit fuel costs to be slightly down year on year." Costs, excluding fuel, were reduced by 2.1 percent in the first half to 27.18 pounds per seat.

((Reporting by Pete Harrison; Editing by Matthew Tostevin; Reuters Messaging: pete.harrison.reuters.comreuters.net; +44 207 542 7975))

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