Prelim Results Part 1 of 4

easyJet PLC
26 November 2002



easyJet plc Preliminary results Part 1 of 4





For immediate release                                           26 November 2002



EASYJET PROFIT JUMPS 78% TO £72 MILLION FOLLLOWING GO FLY ACQUISTION



easyJet plc, Europe's leading low-cost airline, today reported record full-year
results for the financial year ended 30th September 2002.



Highlights of the year include:



•       Profit before tax up 78% to £71.6m (2001: £40.1m)
•       Revenues up 55% to £552m (2001: £357m)
•       Passenger numbers up 60% to 11.4m (2001: 7.1m)
•       Cost per Available Seat Kilometre down 1.3% to 4.46 pence (2001: 4.52
        pence)
•       Average net fare down 4% to £46 (2001: £48)
•       Profit before tax, goodwill and exceptionals* up 86% to £81.8m (2001:
        £44.1m)



In the year, easyJet was able to take advantage of the problems affecting the
traditional airline sector. The airline has grown organically at over 40%, added
eight new routes from London Gatwick, increasing the number of services to
eleven (as British Airways scaled back its operations) and gained a foothold in
Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly from which it now operates on four routes.



The acquisition of Go Fly (completed on 31 July 2002) enabled easyJet to emulate
the effects of many years of organic growth in a single step to become Europe's
largest low-cost airline. The rationale of combining two airlines with almost
identical route network strategies and cultures was compelling.  The integration
of the two businesses is well advanced, with two significant milestones - single
brand and single UK Air Operator's Certificate - close to completion.



The option to acquire Deutsche BA, which is exercisable until August 2003,
provides easyJet a low risk, low cost way to assess and enter the German market.



In March, Stelios Haji-Ioannou announced his intention to step-down as Chairman
of easyJet plc. His replacement, Sir Colin Chandler, formally takes over today,
November 26th 2002.



In October 2002 easyJet selected Airbus as the preferred supplier for up to 240
new Airbus A319 aircraft in a deal which is expected to provide easyJet
significant financial benefits. The deal was formally announced in the new
financial year and negotiations with Airbus are at an advanced stage.  The
Company expects to sign formal documentation and seek shareholders' approval in
the near future.



At the time Stelios announced his intention to retire, the Company stated that
it would review the Brand and Relationship Agreements with the easyGroup.  The
Company has decided not to amend those documents and the current arrangements
remain in place.



 Ray Webster, easyJet Chief Executive, said:



'This outstanding performance in our second full year as a public company is the
perfect farewell present for Stelios. It is his vision which has created
easyJet, and we have every intention of delivering similar performances in the
future.'



Notes to editors:



The easyJet plc full-year results include two months of financial data from Go
Fly. Stripping out Go Fly's contribution to produce comparative numbers for
easyJet on a stand-alone basis, easyJet's top line numbers would include:



•    Revenues up 36% to £486m (2001: £357m)

•    Operating Profit up 49% to £57m (2001: £38m)

•    Passenger numbers up 43% to 10.2m (2001: 7.1m)



easyJet, including Go Fly, currently operates a fleet of 64 Boeing 737s on 88
routes between 36 airports and employs a team of 3,100 people.



*Exceptional items in 2002 relates to the £7.2 million provision for the
investment in The Airline Group Limited.



END



There will be a meeting for analysts at 09.00 this morning at the offices of UBS
Warburg at 1 Finsbury Avenue, London, EC2M 2PP



There will be a photo call at 11:00 and a press conference at 11.15 this morning
at the offices of UBS Warburg at 1 Finsbury Avenue, London, EC2M 2PP



There will be a conference call for fund managers and analysts this afternoon at
14.30 London time. For further details please contact Catherine Segrave at UBS
Warburg on [phone]



easyJet plc

Toby Nicol, Corporate Communications Manager               [phone]
Chris Walton, Finance Director                             [phone]
Derek Livingstone, Investor Relations Manager              [phone]


For easyJet media enquiries please contact:


Grandfield

Charles Cook                                               [phone]
Gareth Penn
Victoria Morris




Chairman's statement

One wet and windy November morning, a little over seven years ago, just before
the crack of dawn I sat in the jump seat of a wet-leased Boeing 737-200 about to
take off from Luton airport bound for Glasgow. I used the public address system
to welcome the full load of passengers to the inaugural flight of 'my' airline!
It was 7am on the 10th of November 1995, and as they say 'the rest is history'.
Today 'my baby' is officially becoming an adult.

This is the last set of results that I will announce as the Company's Chairman.
And I couldn't have hoped for a better send-off! Profits before exceptional
items, provision for the investment in The Airline Group Limited, goodwill
amortisation is before tax are up 86 per cent year-on-year to £82 million.
Profits before tax are up 78 per cent year-on- year to £72 million and the
profit after tax has increased 29 per cent to £49 million. During the year we
acquired the most promising of our competitors', Go Fly, creating Europe's
largest low cost airline by passengers and the one that measures up with most of
the continent's 'flag-carriers' (and there are still too many of those left).
The fleet comprises 64 aircraft with another 14 brand new Boeings to be
delivered by May 2004. Moreover, in what could be the 'deal of the century', we
are close to ordering 120 Airbus A319 aircraft, with options for a further 120
aircraft. I believe the last remaining competitive advantage of the
flag-carriers - buying cheaper aircraft than the up-starts - has just been
demolished.  In the meantime we have built one of the strongest balance sheets
in the industry with cash reserves of £428 million, which equates to almost one
year's worth of operating expenses.

Sustainable companies should exist without the constant care and attention of
the founders. I must note that in this day and age it is highly unusual to find
an outgoing Chairman/Founder of a substantial Company who is able to claim that
he has never drawn a salary nor claimed a single penny in expenses. I even pay
for my own easyJet flights! I believe in the highest standards of corporate
governance and in accordance with those I am delighted to hand over the Chair of
the Board to the safe pair of hands of Sir Colin Chandler. Sir Colin with his
long city experience and Ray Webster, the Chief Executive, who has been with
easyJet almost from the beginning, in effect running the company, make an ideal
combination to lead the company forward.  Given my 22 per cent shareholding and
brand licence agreement between easyGroup and easyJet, easyJet will never be far
from my mind. I will have my hands full with other easyGroup activity, but will
continue to watch from afar with a close and fond interest. At the same time, I
will concentrate on what I think I do best - turning dreams into reality. I
intend to work diligently to create more sustainable and valuable companies that
use the 'easy' brand in order to help make it one of the most famous and
valuable in the world for the benefit of all the 'easy' companies.

The challenges for the year ahead include the completion of the integration of
Go Fly, which is well under way, the decision as to whether to exercise the
option to acquire Deutsche BA and the introduction of the Airbus into the fleet.
On this last point, I have to say that, given the price difference between
Airbus and Boeing, there is enough benefit in the price discount to compensate
for any 'introduction risk'.

We have come an awful long way since the first flight on the 10th of November
1995 and it has been a true pleasure and an honour to work with all of the 3,100
members of the easyJet family. A big thank you to all of you and keep up the
good work!





Stelios Haji-Ioannou
Chairman
25 November 2002


Chief Executive's review

Overview

easyJet continues to demonstrate that its business model is robust and that
there is strong demand for low fare, point-to-point air services between major
European airports.

For the year ended 30 September 2002 easyJet plc made a profit before tax of
£71.6 million, an increase of 78.3 per cent on last year.

Revenue grew 54.6 per cent, year-on-year, with 36.1 per cent of the increase
stemming from organic growth and 18.5 per cent from the acquisition of the
airline Go Fly.  The number of passengers rose 59.5 per cent year-on-year to
11.4 million, driven by the introduction into service of a net eleven additional
aircraft, the addition of the 27 aircraft in the Go Fly fleet for two months of
the year and a 1.8 percentage point increase in average load factor to 84.8 per
cent.

Over the same period, revenue per available seat kilometre increased by 0.4 per
cent.  This was partly driven by a 1.6 per cent fall in average sector length.

easyJet's organic growth strategy has remained unchanged, with most of the 40
per cent growth in sectors flown being added to existing routes, as increased
frequency.  Adding new routes between existing destinations, primarily from
London Gatwick, ('joining the dots') accounted for 11 per cent of the increase
in sectors and adding routes to new destinations, primarily to Paris,
represented 6 per cent of the growth.

Strategy

Our strategy and business model continues to be based on six key strengths that
support our competitiveness, scalability and sustainable growth:

•       Commitment to safety and customer service;

•       Simple fare structure - book early for low prices;

•       Low unit costs;

•       Strong branding;

•       Multi base network - high frequency point-to-point services, mainly
between major European airports; and

•       Strong corporate culture.

Acquisition of Go Fly

The events of 11 September 2001 created a window of opportunity for easyJet.
The airline responded in two ways: by accelerating organic growth and by gaining
a step-up in growth by acquisition.  Therefore, on 31 July 2002, easyJet
completed the acquisition of the low cost airline Go Fly for £374 million to
become Europe's largest low cost airline.  This was partially funded by a rights
issue that raised £277 million (gross).  At that time, Go Fly had cash balances
of £127 million.

The rationale for combining the two airlines was compelling.  As an independent
company, Go Fly had a team of high quality people and had established itself as
a profitable business.  Both airlines have been built on common business models
with complementary route networks and these models have encompassed similar
values and staff cultures. At 30 September, Go Fly operated a fleet of 27 leased
Boeing 737-300s over 36 routes.

The integration of the two businesses is well advanced, with two significant
milestones close to completion.  The first milestone is the creation of a single
'easyJet' brand, with a single computer reservation system and single yield
management system.  The second milestone is the migration to a single UK Air
Operator's Certificate, rather than the two certificates that currently exist
(in addition to the Swiss Air Operator's Certificate).  In practice, this means
that the airline's UK operations will be run as a single unified entity.

Routes

At 30 September, the easyJet network covered 83 routes, 32 cities and 35
airports.

The acquisition of Go Fly added 15 new cities and 36 new routes to the network.
The merging of the networks resulted in minimal overlap.  Only two routes were
common to both airlines (Edinburgh and Glasgow to Belfast) and these were
rationalised in August.

During the year, in addition to the acquisition of Go Fly, 12 new routes were
added to the easyJet network.  In May and June easyJet began four new routes
from Paris: Paris Orly to Geneva and Paris Charles de Gaulle to Luton, Liverpool
and Nice.  easyJet has approximately four aircraft operating a total of sixteen
flights a day from Paris.  easyJet also expanded rapidly from London Gatwick,
introducing eight routes servicing Barcelona, Edinburgh, Zurich, Malaga, Palma
de Mallorca, Athens, Madrid and Alicante. easyJet now operates 26 daily services
on eleven routes from London Gatwick.

easyJet now serves London at three out of four of its main airports (i.e.
Gatwick, Stansted and Luton.) and with twelve airports in the UK, easyJet is now
able to offer its services to most major population centres.  easyJet's
footprint in the UK now covers London, southwest England (Bristol), the English
Midlands (East Midlands), northwest England (Liverpool), northeast England
(Newcastle), Scotland (Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness) and Northern
Ireland (Belfast).

In October 2002 three new services were started from East Midlands to Barcelona,
Geneva and Venice and one new service from Bristol to Venice.  Services from
Liverpool to Alicante will start in January 2003 and the continued expansion of
Newcastle in April 2003 has been announced.

Boeing fleet

At 30 September 2002 the easyJet fleet comprised 64 Boeing 737 aircraft, an
increase of 38 aircraft from the same period last year. Eleven new Boeing
737-700s were delivered during the year and these were financed using operating
leases.  A further new B737-700 aircraft was brought in to the fleet under
operating lease in June, with one B737-300 aircraft being returned to its
lessor.  In addition, the acquisition of Go Fly added 27 leased Boeing 737-300
aircraft to the fleet.



A further 14 Boeing 737-700s are to be delivered by May 2004.  Eight of these
aircraft will arrive in financial year 2003.

New Airbus aircraft

In October 2002 (after the end of the 2002 financial year), easyJet selected
Airbus as the aircraft manufacturer with whom it would negotiate for supply of
its next stream of new aircraft.  The proposed order is for 120 A319 aircraft to
be delivered over a five year period from the second half of the 2003 calendar
year. In addition, easyJet has options with price protection on a further 120
A319 aircraft, valid until 2012, and options to switch to larger sized A320 and
A321 aircraft.

The Airbus aircraft deliveries are intended to provide a stream of new aircraft
to follow on from when the last Boeing is delivered in May 2004.  However,
easyJet intends to introduce five Airbus aircraft earlier, around September
2003, to build experience with the aircraft before the main delivery stream
begins.  These aircraft will be introduced into Switzerland and operated under
easyJet's existing Swiss Air Operator's Certificate.  This will quarantine the
introduction from the core easyJet operation and draw on a self-contained
management team in Geneva that is not involved in the Go Fly project.

Contracts are being negotiated and once these are finalised, shareholder
approval will be sought.

Option to purchase Deutsche BA

In August 2002, easyJet negotiated an option to purchase the German airline
Deutsche BA.   This option can be exercised at any time until August 2003.  The
German market presents significant growth opportunities for easyJet and the
option provides easyJet a low risk, low cost way to assess and enter the German
market.

Deutsche BA currently operates 16 leased Boeing 737-300 aircraft on seven German
domestic routes.

easyJet is currently undertaking two inter-related activities. It is assisting
the existing management of Deutsche BA to de-risk the transition of the business
to low cost and it is evaluating whether the purchase option should be
exercised. Good progress is being made by the project teams.

The Airline Group

As announced at the time of the Interim Result, the Board of easyJet decided to
be prudent and to provide for in full its £7.2 million investment in The Airline
Group Limited (TAG), a consortium of airlines which owns a minority interest in
the company which operates the UK air traffic control system (NATS).



easyJet reiterates its earlier statements: easyJet has no intention to sell its
stake in, or to cease its involvement in, TAG. easyJet's future growth is
critically dependent on the provision of efficient air traffic control services
and consequently, easyJet remains vitally interested in NATS.

Our people

We often talk about easyJet's commercial acumen, speed of response, flexibility,
resilience and creativity.  These are not impersonal corporate qualities: they
are human qualities.  Our success stems from the 3,100 people that comprise
easyJet.

It is a success that has not been achieved effortlessly.  The challenges of
operating in the post-11 September 2001 environment, delivering profitable
growth in a very competitive world and integrating new structures, practices and
approaches in the wake of the merger, have been significant. However, it has
been both individuals and teams of individuals who have provided the solutions
through showing a willingness to adapt, act and innovate.

Consequently, once again, I say 'thank you' to our staff and their families for
their efforts over the year and look forward to their ongoing support.

Trading outlook

easyJet faces a number of uncertainties.  These include the threat of war in the
Middle East, terrorist activity and the consumer environment.  Notwithstanding
the above uncertainties, market demand continues to be strong, but at lower
average fares.

The combining of the Go Fly and easyJet networks has provided easyJet with a
much enhanced market presence.  The new routes out of Paris and London Gatwick
are proving popular and the proposed expansion at Newcastle means that United
Kingdom coverage will be very strong.

The addition of the Go Fly network is likely to result in no new cities being
added to the network in the near future.  Additional capacity is likely to
appear as increased frequencies on existing routes and as infilling between
existing destinations ('joining the dots').

Although easyJet suffered some bad press during the year when a new rostering
system was introduced, punctuality is now fully restored and the rostering
regime is stable.



The integration of Go Fly is proceeding well and in some areas faster than
initially planned.

The full year effect of the enlarged fleet and the planned deliveries of
aircraft during the 2003 financial year are expected to result in sectors
growing by approximately 80 per cent,  year-on-year compared to 2002, in which
89,939 sectors were flown.

As a low-cost point-to-point airline that flies frequently between major
European airports, easyJet is well positioned for the future.  The easyJet
business model is robust, resilient and well-placed to prosper.






Ray Webster
Chief Executive
25 November 2002




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