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EasyJet quarterly sales drop as terrorism, strikes halt flights

London - EasyJet’s third-quarter revenue dropped 2.6% as terrorist attacks in Europe and labour disputes in some of the airline’s main markets depressed travel.

Group sales in the three months ended June 30 fell to £1.2bn from £1.23bn a year earlier, the Luton, England-based budget carrier said on Thursday in a statement. Revenue per seat, or yield, slid 8.3% to £54.17.

Terrorism incidents across Europe and North Africa since last year have deterred tourists and business executives from traveling, and a deadly attack in Nice, France, and a failed coup in Turkey in the past week have exacerbated the drop.

EasyJet, which was betting on the region’s summer vacation season to revive traffic, is also contending with a plunge in the pound resulting from the British referendum last month to exit the European Union, known as Brexit.
 
Those effects, plus air-traffic disruptions due to strikes combined to reduce third-quarter pre-tax profit by £28m, the company said late last month.

Labour stoppages, weather and runway closures in London "combined with industry capacity growth in short haul continue to have an impact on industry yields at a peak time of year," chief executive officer Carolyn McCall said in the statement on Thursday.

"More recently currency volatility as a result of the UK’s referendum decision to leave the EU as well as the recent events in Turkey and Nice continue to impact consumer confidence.'

EasyJet has lost more than a quarter of its value since the Brexit referendum on June 23. The carrier is in talks to gain an operating license in another EU state in preparation for Britain’s departure from the bloc.

Deutsche Lufthansa, Europe’s third-biggest mainline carrier, cited terrorist attacks in Europe as the main reason for a cut in its full-year forecast.

The carrier said late on Wednesday that it expects adjusted earnings to fall in 2016 rather than increase slightly.

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