EasyJet readies 90% of fleet despite summer doubts

EasyJet said it was poised to ramp up summer flight schedules with an easing of COVID-19 restrictions, but the low-cost airline warned that late announcement of travel rules reduced visibility as it reported a wider half-year loss.

EasyJet expects to operate about 15% of pre-crisis capacity in the current April-June quarter, it said on Thursday, before returning furloughed crews for a much-anticipated summer surge.

“We have the ability to flex up quickly to operate 90% of our current fleet over the peak summer period to match demand,” Chief Executive Johan Lundgren said in the airline’s results statement.

As the peak season approaches, travel firms are pushing governments to drop quarantines and other curbs for vaccinated passengers and lower-risk destinations.

Britain’s “green list” of unrestricted countries is up for review in the coming weeks, but the government has warned that the highly contagious coronavirus variant first detected in India may yet slow the pace of reopening.

EasyJet’s pretax loss widened to 701 million pounds ($990 million) in the six months ending March 31, from 193 million in the year-earlier period affected only partially by the pandemic. Revenue fell 90% to 240 million pounds on a similarly sharp decline in passenger numbers to 4.1 million.

Underlining the summer doubts, the airline gave no firm capacity plan for its July-September fourth quarter.

(c) Reuters

News.Az

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