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(Alliance News) - easyJet Group PLC on Tuesday voiced confidence over international travel demand this summer, as the budget airline plans to ramp-up to 60% of pre-pandemic capacity.
The budget airline said it maintained a "disciplined approach" to capacity and cash management in the third quarter that ended June 30, with total cash burn reduced to GBP55 million. It managed to maintain net debt broadly flat at GBP2.0 billion and registered a headline pretax loss of GBP318 million, in line with expectations and slimmed from GBP346.8 million a year ago.
"During this quarter we have successfully managed through the continued challenges of the pandemic, using our operational responsiveness to capture demand while focusing on cost control and minimising cash burn," said Chief Executive Johan Lundgren.
Revenue for the quarter rose to GBP212.9 million, in line with expectations and up significantly from GBP7.2 million during the prior year period at the height of coronavirus restrictions in the UK.
The airline is now looking ahead to more relaxed travel rules and has been focusing on pivoting capacity to Europe, where customer demand is strongest.
It expects capacity in the fourth quarter ending September 30 to be up to 60% of 2019 levels, improved from just 17% in the third quarter.
"We remain confident about demand for travel this summer and into autumn, due to the bookings surges experienced following selective easing of travel restrictions, such as the 400% increase in week-on-week flight bookings seen following the waiving of quarantine for fully vaccinated passengers returning from amber-list destinations," said easyJet, also noting high consumer savings rates and "high balances" of employees' annual leave.
Due to uncertainty around government foreign travel restrictions, easyJet said customers are now "booking much closer to departure", with 49% of its fourth quarter schedule booked compared to 65% in 2019. easyJet expects this to improve quickly as restrictions are lifted over the coming period.
The airline said it is "topping up and launching new routes" in response to changes in UK government travel restrictions, such as the addition of destinations like Malta and Madeira to the so-called 'green' list, with 60,000 additional passenger seats being created since changes were announced.
Shares in easyJet were up 2.8% at 791.49 pence in London on Tuesday morning.
By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com
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