* Says lower fuel prices, currencies to generate profit * Summer bookings equal to this time last year * H1 pretax losses hit 129.8 mln stg, up from 48.4 mln * Fleet expansion plan remains, Stelios still objects * EasyJet April traffic up 6.3 pct, Ryanair 12 pct (Adds Stelios comment, Ryanair traffic, updates shares) By John Bowker LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - British low-cost airline easyJet (EZJ.L) expectsto be profitable for the full year to end-September in spite of nearly treblingfirst-half pretax losses to 130 million pounds ($196.2 million). The carrier said in a Wednesday statement that current lower fuel prices andexchange rates meant it could end the year in the black even though it remainscautious about the economy. "The loss is what we expected, and was almost entirely driven by fuelcosts," Chief Executive Andy Harrison told reporters, adding that the movementof Easter into the airline's second half had also had an impact. He said the group had sold 41 percent of its seats for the second half toend-September already -- about the same performance as this time last year. "We have seen some weakness in commuter travel, and journeys to secondhomes, but this has been more than made up for by an increase in businesstravellers and some switching from long-haul leisure to short-haul," Harrisonsaid. He added that there had been "no impact yet" from the swine flu outbreak,although the group flies almost exclusively between European destinations.
EasyJet shares, in positive territory for the year-to-date, neverthelessfell 2.7 percent on the losses to 323 pence by 1233 GMT, valuing the business ataround 1.4 billion pounds. EXPANSION BATTLE Harrison confirmed that the group's long-term plan to increase its number ofplanes to over 190 by September 2011 from an expected 180 this year remained inplace, despite long-running objections from founder and biggest shareholderStelios Haji-Ioannou. "There were no deferral decisions made in the last quarter," Harrison said. A spokesman for Stelios countered that he still thought easyJet was flyingtoo many planes.
"The company currently plans to buy too many new aircraft too soon, and thepassenger numbers are not keeping up with the aircraft numbers. Stelioscontinues to advocate that the company should continue to postpone certaindeliveries," a spokesman for the entrepreneur said in a statement. EasyJet passenger volumes for April -- helped by the Easter break -- were upjust over 6 percent, while Irish rival Ryanair (RYA.I) posted a 12 percent rise[ID:nDUB000929]. EasyJet has been dogged for months by boardroom battles and recently saidboth its chairman and finance director would leave the group. First-half revenue climbed 15.8 percent to over 1 billion pounds, while thegroup's cash and money market deposits also topped the 1 billion pound mark. ($1=.6626 Pound) (Reporting by John Bowker; Editing by Simon Jessop and Rupert Winchester).