=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2003/02/25/f= inancial1046EST0064.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, February 25, 2003 (AP) EasyJet bookings down for 'busy' spring, summer travel (02-25) 07:46 PST (AP) -- LONDON (Dow Jones/AP) -- British low-cost airline easyJet Airline Co. PLC Tuesday said average fares, or yields, have been declining. EasyJet said while bookings over spring and summer -- traditionally the busiest time for airlines -- are encouraging, fares are lower than at the same time last year, mainly due to increased capacity from new aircraft and the addition of Go Fly, the budget airline it bought last April. In the four months to Jan. 31, easyJet said the average fare has been 6 percent lower than the average fare generated by the combined easyJet and Go Fly networks last year. For the half year to March 31, the company expects this fall to be closer to the 9 percent yield decline that low-cost rival Ryanair Holdings PLC reported earlier this month. Mike Powell, analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said he had alrea= dy expected first half yields to be down 9 percent. "We're relaxed about that," Powell said. "But we want to know whether yields will be down in the second half. They seem to be pointing to that, and that's why the shares have come down," he said. EasyJet's shares have almost halved since November 2002 when the company said it was buying 120 Airbus A319s rather than building on its fleet of Boeing 737s -- considered the industry standard model for low-cost carriers. The company said it will hold an Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders on March 12 to vote on the purchase of the aircraft. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 AP