LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - British budget airline easyJet said summer bookings were building strongly, even as it reported a wider first-quarter loss on Thursday, hit by expansion costs and soft winter pricing.
"This year, the traditionally busy January booking period has seen record levels in both volume and revenue, as bookings continue to build for Summer 2026," the company said.
Winter is typically the weakest period for airlines, with carriers relying on spring and summer demand to lift earnings.
EasyJet reported an operating loss of 76 million pounds ($105 million) in the three months to December 31, compared with a 40-million-pound loss a year earlier.
Despite this, the airline kept its 2026 outlook unchanged. Its shares rose 2% in early trading.
Separately, Wizz Air reported a third-quarter operating loss in line with expectations. Earlier this week, larger rival Ryanair raised its fare growth outlook after a strong start to 2026 bookings.
Budget carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet have sidestepped many of the challenges facing Europe's biggest airlines, which have been squeezed by weaker transatlantic travel linked to tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
In November, easyJet lifted its medium-term target for its holiday division but warned of softer winter sales.
The holiday business continued to grow, delivering a 50-million-pound pretax profit in the quarter as customer numbers jumped 20%. Forward bookings for easyJet Holidays was 47% sold for the second-half of the year, it said.
($1 = 0.7229 pounds)
(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska in London and Rishab Shaju and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru. Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Mark Potter)
By Joanna Plucinska and Rishab Shaju
