EasyJet sales rise due to UK’s poor weather
British budget airline easyJet posted a 10.5 per cent rise in third-quarter revenues, boosted by strong demand for beach holidays due to the poor weather in northern Europe.
Europe’s second-largest low-cost carrier on Wednesday said revenues rose to £1.03bn in the three months to the end of June, and issued full-year profit guidance ahead of the analyst average of £272m.
“The continued strong operational and financial performance of the business combined with the fall in the price of jet fuel means that profit before tax for the year ending 30 September is anticipated to be in the range of £280m to £300m, assuming no significant disruption,” chief executive Carolyn McCall said.
The airline said it had seen strong demand on beach routes during the extended period of poor weather in northern Europe.
EasyJet, the largest airline at London’s Gatwick airport, said seats flown grew by 7.5 per cent to 17.9m during the period, while passengers carried increased by 10.9 per cent to 16m.
EasyJet’s load factor – a measure of how full its planes were – rose 2.8 percentage points to 89.1 per cent.
It said ancillary fees – including charges for baggage – rose by £1.20 to £11.81 per seat.
EasyJet last month said it planned to cut flights to and from Madrid by 20 per cent and would no longer base crew and aircraft there from next winter after the location delivered the lowest returns of all its bases