Winter bookings and profits increase at EasyJet

British low-cost airline EasyJet yesterday reported a small rise in its winter bookings, shrugging off fears about an increasingly competitive European travel market.

The company also posted a 21.5% rise in pre-tax profit to £581m (€726.4m) for the year to the end of September, in line with an upgraded forecast it made last month.

Cheap fares have helped EasyJet and rival Ryanair win market share in Europe’s short-haul travel sector from traditional airlines such as Air France-KLM and Lufthansa, which have recently announced plans to expand their own budget services.