DISCOUNT airline easyJet saw shares tumble yesterday after revealing it had cut fares to encourage passengers on to its planes amid tougher economic conditions and increased competition.
The group, which bought rival Go in May, and opened a hub at Newcastle Airport, said that for the four months to January 31, its average fare was about six per cent lower than the fare generated by the two airlines during the same period in 2001.
EasyJet said the reason was partly competition, but was more to do with difficult economic conditions.
A spokesman said: "It is not just competition. If you look at the economies of the world at this time, people do not have as much money to spend. It is less to do with competition and more to do with economic reasons."
Shares in easyJet fell 12 per cent to 213p as investors worried about the effect lower prices would have on yields.
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