UK-based carrier easyJet has announced losses totalling more
than £1 billion for the second year in a row as the coronavirus pandemic
continues to impact global aviation.
The company reported a loss of £1.036 billion, which falls
within its forecast for the year to 30 September. That’s an 18.6 per cent
decrease on 2020’s loss of £1.27 billion.
The headline loss before tax for FY2021 was £1.136 billion.
Total revenue decreased by 52 per cent to £1.46 billion,
which easyJet said is predominately due to the fact that the first half of 2020
had no impact from Covid-19. International travel from and to the UK primarily didn’t
restart until the government lifted the majority of restrictions in October.
The airline said it’s “too soon” to determine what impact
the Omicron Covid-19 variant will have on European travel. At the moment, the
UK and other European nations have only restricted travel from several southern
African nations where the variant was first identified, but arrivals to the UK
from everywhere else are now required to self-isolate until they receive a
negative PCR test result.
Despite growing uncertainty over Omicron, easyJet said
forward bookings for the second half of the 2022 financial year are already
ahead of pre-pandemic levels, prompting the carrier to bring another 25
aircraft back into service next year to meet demand.
EasyJet said its strategy of reallocating aircraft to “higher
contributing bases” has proven successful during the pandemic, while its new
ancillary products are delivering revenue now.
The airline expects to fly around 70 per cent of 2019 capacity
in Q2 of 2022, with Q4 capacity predicted to be near pre-pandemic levels. It is
adding runway slots at Gatwick, Porto, Lisbon and Milan Linate and will send an
additional aircraft to all of its seasonal bases next year.
EasyJet CEO Johan Lundgren said: “EasyJet is moving through
the pandemic with renewed strength, having transformed our network and
flexibility, delivering significant cost savings while also step-changing
ancillary revenue. These initiatives alongside our strong, investment grade
balance sheet provide easyJet with renewed strength to manage any further
Covid-related travel disruptions, as well as a platform to fast track our
growth and deliver strong shareholder returns. With this platform, we have the
ambition to beat our targets set earlier this year.”