EasyJet says weak pound is hitting harder than expected
Easyjet has warned the weakness of the pound will cost it £105 million this financial year, more than the £90 million it had expected.
The airline reported a ‘solid’ first quarter ending December 30, but said its profit would be hit harder than it thought by the fall-out of Brexit.
Passengers numbers rose by 8.2% to 17.4 million, driven by a growth in capacity of 8.6% to 19.3 million seats.
Load factor was broadly flat, falling by 0.3 percentage points to 90%
Chief executive Carolyn McCall said: "EasyJet has delivered a solid first quarter with revenue, cost and passenger numbers in line with expectations. This is despite a tough pricing and operating environment.
"Consumer demand remains strong with passenger growth of 8.2%, revenue growth of 7.2% and headline cost per seat reduction, at constant currency, of over 2%.
"The weakness of Sterling and the impact of fuel combined are £35 million worse than previously expected but easyJet has made good progress in reducing costs in those areas where we have more control such as engineering, maintenance, non-regulated airports and overheads.
"The underlying year-on-year revenue per seat trend continues to improve, supported by resilient demand across all our European markets. Forward bookings are ahead of last year."
Looking forward, easyJet said the pricing and operating environment remains tough, ‘with fuel prices remaining low and continued strong growth in European short haul capacity impacting yields across the industry’.
It plans to grow seat capacity by up to 9% in the first half year and by up to 9% in the full year, ‘subject to normal levels of disruption and some investment in resilience’.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025