LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's easyJet (L:EZJ) on Thursday reported third quarter trading in line with expectations, boosted by more customers taking services like allocated seating, enabling it to reiterate its full-year profit forecasts.
The budget airline added it had poached Peter Bellew as its chief operating officer from Ryanair (I:RYA).
EasyJet said total revenue for the quarter ending June 30 increased by 11.4% to 1.8 billion pounds, driven by more bookings and more ancillary revenue from additional services like bag check-ins.
The robust trading, at a time when many smaller rivals are struggling, comes despite a general softening of demand due to tougher macroeconomic conditions across Europe as well as Brexit-related consumer uncertainty in Britain, it said.
"With second-half forward bookings at 78% we have better visibility on the second half and expect to deliver a profit before tax of between 400 million pounds and 440 million pounds, in line with market expectations," Chief Executive Johan Lundgren said.
The group added that it had hired Bellew who is stepping down from his role at Ryanair at the end of the year, according to a memo to staff seen by Reuters.
The former chief executive of Malaysian Airlines re-joined the Irish carrier in December 2017.