EasyJet reveals impact of Gatwick drone crisis and Brexit fiasco
EasyJet lost about £15 million when Gatwick was forced to suspend flights due to drone sightings in December, but the airline announced this week that it has made a good start to 2019.
The airline had to shell out £10 million to take care of 82,000 passengers on 400 flights that were cancelled due to the drone sightings shutting down Gatwick airport just before Christmas. It also lost £5 million revenue.
However, passenger numbers for the last three months of 2018 were up 15% to 21.6 million and it said it was seeing ‘robust’ demand from customers in 2019, despite a lack of certainty around Brexit.
In a first quarter trading update, easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: "For the first half of 2019, booking levels currently remain encouraging despite the lack of certainty around Brexit for our customers.
"Second half bookings continue to be ahead of last year and our expectations for the full year headline profit before tax are broadly in line with current market expectations."
Total revenue for the first quarter to the end of December was up almost 14% to nearly £1.4 billion. Passenger revenue rose 12.2% to £1.03 billion and ancillary revenue was up almost 20% to £271 million.
Passenger numbers increased 15% to 21.6 million, while capacity was up 18% to 24.1 million seats, which was slightly lower than originally planned due in part to the drone crisis at Gatwick and late A321 deliveries from Airbus.
EasyJet said that despite consumer and economic uncertainty created by Brexit, demand remains ‘solid’ and bookings for the period after March 29 are ‘robust’.
It said its Brexit planning includes registering 130 aircraft in Austria and building up a pool of spare parts in the EU.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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