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EasyJet sales more than double in peak season as turnover hits £2.5bn, but airline predicts losses of up to £190m as costs rise
- Passenger numbers rose to 24 million and revenues rose to around £2.5 billion from £1 billion a year ago
- It signaled resilient demand despite the cost of living crisis, with its October flight schedule and Christmas weeks returning to pre-pandemic levels
- The group expects to fly 20 million seats in the last three months of 2022
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A record recovery in travel demand during the summer will help EasyJet cut annual losses sharply after sales more than doubled in peak season.
The airline, headquartered in Luton, expects to achieve underlying pre-tax profits of between £470 million and £490 million in the final quarter to September 30, as passenger numbers rose to 24 million and revenue rose from £1 billion a year ago to about £2.5 billion. .
EasyJet is on track to limit total losses for the full year to between £170 million and £190 million, down from losses of £1.14 billion in the previous year.
Record recovery in summer travel demand will help easyJet cut annual losses sharply after peak season sales more than doubled
EasyJet signaled resilient demand despite the cost of living crisis, with its October flight schedule and the Christmas period returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Despite the positive news, the board told investors on Thursday that the company will not be able to pay dividends to its shareholders for the year to September 30, 2022.
EasyJet shares rose 0.11% lower in early trading and traded at 284.80p.
Looking ahead, EasyJet expects to fly 20 million seats in the last three months of 2022 – up 30 percent from a year ago – and the group said there is already demand for next summer.
The airline maintained that efforts to address staff shortages and disruptions resulted in operational performance since early July now better than in the last quarter before Covid hit.
It comes after holidaymakers were hit by flight delays and cancellations and long queues as airports struggled to cope with the sudden surge in demand for overseas holidays.
Airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick told airlines to shorten their flight schedules after scenes of chaos as staff shortages left them struggling with baggage handling, air traffic control and security.
EasyJet said it has booked around £200m in disruption costs in the year after the recent problems at the airport, up from £126m in 2020-21.
Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, said: ‘EasyJet has hit a record recovery this summer with fourth quarter operating profit expected to be between £525million and £545million and passenger numbers nearly doubling from last summer. to 24 million.’
He added: ‘Our summer season 23 went on sale last week and we filled the equivalent of more than four A320s per minute during opening hours, showing that there is continued demand.’
Mr Lundgren also signaled an ‘uncertain’ broader economic background, but said that ‘easyJet is Europe’s largest operator at primary airports with one of the strongest balance sheets in the airline industry’.