EasyJet has cut its annual loss by 22 per cent to £545 million (approx. €643 million) as the UK-based airline reinstated more flights throughout the first half of the year. In its H1 2022 financial report released on Thursday the carrier also reaffirmed its commitment to a sustainable recovery by setting an interim carbon target to reduce emissions by 35 per cent by 2035.
The airline reported strong bookings and increased customer confidence, flying 23.4 million passengers (H1 2021: £4.1 million), up 471 per cent on the previous year, and a 524 per cent increase in total revenue to £1,498 million (H1 2021: £240 million) predominantly due to increased capacity in key markets.
More than 1.5 million seats were reallocated to the airline’s strongest markets, including in the UK, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.
EasyJet CEO Johan Lundgren said the airline expects to see the return of a “normal summer season” with Q3 capacity set to reach 90 per cent of 2019 levels. Leisure and domestic routes have fully recovered, with capacity at 113 per cent and 104 per cent of 2019 levels, respectively, while business and city traffic continues to recover, but remains below pre-pandemic levels.
In line with the travel reboot, Lundgren said the airline is currently finalising its roadmap to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and is working with partners such as Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Wright Electric to accelerate the development of zero carbon emission aircraft technology. In doing so, the airline recently launched a carbon offsetting scheme for corporate customers, and set a 35 per-cent emissions reduction target, which it hopes to achieve by 2035.
The target aligns with the Science-Based Targets (SBT) sectoral decarbonisation pathway and has been submitted to the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for validation. SBTi requires airlines to decarbonise within their own operation, instead of using out-of-sector carbon offsetting or other market-based mechanisms such as ETS (Emissions Trading System).
EasyJet claims to have one of the youngest and most fuel-efficient narrow body jet fleets in Europe and the second largest single brand operator of A320neo family aircraft in the region.
“Decarbonising aviation is the challenge of a generation, but we know it can and must be done. We have now embarked on our journey to net-zero and while there will be challenges along the way, I’m really excited about what lies ahead,” Lundgren said.