Easyjet is to switch capacity from the UK to the EU this summer
because of greater demand in Europe and differing government attitudes to reopening borders.
“As a result of the current divergence in government travel
policies, easyJet’s bookings for this summer are heavily skewed towards
continental Europe,” the airline said. “Whilst our business is normally split
50:50 between the UK and Europe, at present two thirds of bookings are coming
from Europe."
The airline
has recently acquired slots in Milan-Linate, Amsterdam Schiphol and Paris-Orly, added routes from Palma de Mallorca, Faro
and Malaga and increased its presence in Scandinavia to serve new network
points, including Stockholm Arlanda and Copenhagen. It has also launched eight
new routes from EU and Swiss bases to cover flying for August that was
previously operating from the UK.
In its third quarter financial results ending 30 June 2021,
the airline said it made a pre-tax loss of £318 million which was “in line with
expectations”; it has trimmed its fixed cost and capital expenditure to £34
million per week, better than the £40 million reported in Q1.
Total group revenue for the quarter was £212.9
million, up from £7.2 million last year when its fleet was largely grounded.
Easyjet said that passengers are currently booking much closer to departure due to market conditions with 49 per cent of its Q4 schedule booked, compared to 65 per cent in 2019.
The airline said capacity would be back to 60 per cent of
2019 levels in Q4, up from 17 per cent in the past quarter.
Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet, said: “We have used our
existing strengths like our network with renewed purpose – pivoting capacity to
Europe where we saw the strongest demand. The very way we have approached
the challenges that we faced means we have adapted and built back stronger for
the future.
“As a result, we will emerge from the pandemic with
longer-term wins alongside baked-in sustainable cost reductions, responding
effectively and in ways our competitors don’t or can’t.
“While we know the road to recovery from the pandemic isn’t
going to be a straight line, we are ready to compete using these new-found
strengths with everything we have learned leaving a long-term, positive imprint
on the airline, transformed ready for the post-pandemic era.”