EasyJet revenues lifted by Air France strike

London - EasyJet on Friday lifted its full-year profits forecast as a record-long strike by pilots at Air France caused passengers to switch to the no-frills British carrier.

EasyJet said income grew by about $8.1m thanks to the strike by pilots at Air France, while the British airline raised its 2014 earnings forecast also following a strong end to its financial year.

The British airline said it now expected pre-tax profit for the 12 months to September 30 of between £575m and 580m compared with the group's previous guidance of 545m to 570m.

"We finished the year strongly," EasyJet chief executive Carolyn McCall said in the company's trading update. "This has enabled EasyJet to deliver record profits for the fourth year in a row."

The airline added that "the impact of the Air France pilots' strike in September is expected to increase easyJet's revenue by circa £5m as Air France passengers switched to easyJet".

EasyJet had already said that 40% of its net profits would be in the form of dividends to shareholders. The group will publish its full-year results on November 18.

Air France's main pilots' union this week ended the longest strike in the carrier's history to allow talks over the contentious issue of the airline's low-cost subsidiary Transavia.

Air France sees Transavia's development as vital in the struggle to retain market share in the cut-throat medium-haul sector, which is steadily being overrun by no-frills airlines such as EasyJet and Ryanair.

The two-week stoppage has meanwhile cost Air France more than $250m.