Easyjet’s new Vienna-based subsidiary has started flying today (July 1) after securing its Air Operator Certificate (AOC).
The airline announced that it had chosen Austria as its base for Easyjet Europe last week as it bids to protect its operations within the EU from the potential impact of Brexit.
CEO Carolyn McCall said: “Our European AOC has now been awarded and the first flight by an Easyjet Europe aircraft takes place today. That means our flying rights in Europe will be secure after the UK leaves the EU.”
The airline also revealed that passenger numbers rose by 10.8 per cent to 22.3 million during the three months from April to June, while revenue increased by 16 per cent to £1.39 billion – boosted by Easter taking place in April this year.
Load factor also improved by 1.1 percentage points year-on-year to 93.1 per cent during the quarter.
McCall said that Easyjet has “positive momentum” after a “difficult 18 months of external challenges”.
“Although we expect capacity to continue to put pressure on yields, our progress this year has enabled us to upgrade this year's PBT (profit before tax) forecast,” she added.
The airline is now forecasting that it will make a pre-tax profit of between £380 million and £420 million during the current financial year.