easyJet has seen revenue for the six months to March 31st 2014 increase to £1.7 billion, up 6.3 per cent from the same period last year.

The budget carrier also carried 12 million business passengers for the first time in the 12 months to March 31st.

Commenting on the results, Carolyn McCall, easyJet chief executive, said: “easyJet has delivered a solid first half performance despite the less benign capacity environment. 

“The results reflect our on-going progress against our strategic priorities, and demonstrate the structural advantage easyJet has against both legacy and low cost competition in the European short haul market.

“By continuing to deliver our strategy of offering customers lower fares to great destinations with friendly service while focusing upon costs, we can continue to deliver sustainable growth and returns for our shareholders. 

“There continue to be a number of attractive opportunities for easyJet to grow profitably in Europe and we look forward to making further progress in the second half of the year.”

easyJet has made a concerted move into the business travel market, rolling out allocated seating, while also building more flexibility into departure times.

Despite this, the airline posted a loss before tax of £53 million for the six months to March 31st.

This was, however, better than the £55m-£65m range forecast by the airline earlier this year.

Airlines traditionally lose cash over the winter, before posting profits during the lucrative summer months.

easyJet ended the first half of the financial year with cash and money market deposits of £1,069 million, a decrease of £125 million against last year mainly driven by a special dividend payment. 

Net cash as at March 31st 2014 was £449 million compared to £433 million at March 31st 2013.