Category Archives: easyJet (UK)

easyJet and easyJet holidays announce nine new routes from the UK including Akureyri in Iceland

  • easyJet has put nine new routes on sale today from nine UK airports to destinations across the UK, France, Morocco, Tunisia and Iceland
  • The airline will fly to Akureyri in North Iceland for the first time, with easyJet now offering the only route from the UK
  • Brand new packages are available on eight of the new routes with easyJet holidays, with city breaks starting from £269 and beach holidays from £299
  • Seats are now on sale on easyJet.com and via the mobile app with fares starting £27.99*

The UK’s largest airline easyJet has today announced it will be launching nine new routes from the UK from next winter, including flights to a brand new destination in Iceland for the very first time. easyJet holidays will be offering brand new package holidays on eight of the new routes.

This winter, easyJet will become the only UK airline to operate to Akureyri in North Iceland when flights launch from London Gatwick twice a week from 31st October. Dubbed ‘The Capital of the North’, the town lies in the fjord Eyjafjörður in North Iceland and is located a short drive from many of Iceland’s top natural, cultural and historical attractions. Visitors can enjoy whale watching, hiking, viewing the Northern lights and geothermal bathing, all while taking in the stunning scenery.

easyJet holidays, the UK’s fastest growing tour operator, is offering packages to the brand new destination, including flights, hotel and 23kg luggage. The holiday company has put brand new hotels in sale in the Akureyri area, including the 4* Hotel Aiglo by Keahotels, with a pool overlooking fishing boats, and the 4* Myvatn, near the Myvatn nature baths. Holidaymakers can enjoy a huge range of excursions including whale watching, exploring the country’s stunning waterfalls, or catching the Northern Lights, all available through easyJet holidays’ excursion partner, Musement. 

In other news, easyJet has announced the opening of a new seasonal base in Alicante. Operational from spring 2024, this will be the airline’s fourth base in Spain and 30th on its European network. The new base will create around 100 direct jobs for pilots and crew and many more indirect local jobs. 

The new seasonal base will have three aircraft based in this region of the Mediterranean coast, which will allow the airline to offer 1.62 million seats in its first operational summer in 2024.  

The airline is also expanding its UK network by opening a new base at Birmingham. The investment will create around 100 direct jobs for pilots and crew in the UK and support around 1200* jobs in total. easyJet is the largest airline in the UK and currently employs around ten thousand people across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

The airline will base three 186-seat A320 aircraft at the airport. Investing in a ninth base in the UK strengthens easyJet’s network by positioning it as the carrier of choice to serve UK consumers and capture the continued demand for travel, further growing its share of the UK leisure market for both the airline and easyJet holidays.

This represents 16% growth compared to the current 2023 summer season, where easyJet will fly 1.4 million seats across 11 routes to key destinations such as Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Geneva and Basel, among o

easyJet reduces its fiscal first quarter loss to £133 million ($164.7 million)

easyJet (UK) issued its financial report for its fiscal first quarter:

easyJet’s first quarter financial performance was ahead of expectations as yields strengthened, with revenue per seat increasing 36% year on year. Airline ancillary revenue continued to perform well, at £20.12 per seat, also increasing 36% year on year. easyJet holidays remains the UKs fastest growing major holiday company, with a 161% increase year on year in customers as demand for travel in the UK remains strong.

Moving into the second quarter of this financial year, easyJet expects RPS growth year on year to continue the trend experienced in Q1. This is driven by yield and load factor growth alongside the continued delivery of ancillary products. easyJet holidays will continue to see customer growth through the quarter, alongside investment into marketing and advertising as part of the turn of year sale campaign.

easyJet’s leading low-cost proposition at primary airports provides a key differentiator for customers making it easy to travel, whilst offering great value. Demand for our network is strong demonstrated through record turn of year bookings. Easter, which sits in Q3, is currently trading very well with sold ticket yields +24% vs FY19, noting the later booking window. With strong UKdemand, easyJet holidays is now over 60% sold for this summer, based on the previously guided 30% growth year on year. With the holidays business not constrained and considering current levels of demand, we now expect to see growth of circa 50% on FY22.

Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet, said:

“We have seen strong and sustained demand for travel over the first quarter, carrying almost 50% more customers compared with last year. Many returned to make bookings during the traditional turn of year sale where we filled five aircraft every minute in the peak hours, which culminated in three record-breaking weekends for sales revenue this month.

“This strong booking performance, aided by the airline’s step changed revenue capability, has driven an £80m year on year boost in the first quarter with continued momentum as customers prioritise spending on holidays for the year ahead. easyJet holidays, the fastest growing holidays company in the UK, is upgrading its ambitious growth plans for the year given the strong demand.    

“In summary, we expect to see our winter loss reduce significantly over the first half compared to last year. This will set us firmly on the path to delivering a full year profit, where we anticipate beating the current market expectation enabling us to create value for customers, investors and the economies we serve.”

Capacity

During Q1 easyJet flew 20.2 million seats, in line with guidance, a significant increase on the same period last year when easyJet flew 15.5 million seats. Load factor was 87% (Q1 FY22: 77%), due to increased customer demand coupled with restriction-free travel.

Passenger3 numbers in the quarter increased to 17.5 million (Q1 FY22: 11.9 million).

 October 2022November 2022December 2022Q1FY23Q1FY22
Number of flights49,07128,90734,914112,89285,618
Peak operating aircraft313254261313251
Passengers 3 (thousand)7,5054,5435,43317,48111,891
Seats flown (thousand)8,7325,1786,25020,15915,471
Load factor 486%88%87%87%77%

Sustainability

During the quarter, easyJet’s CO2 emissions per RPK reduced 11% year on year. Alongside this, our partnership with Rolls-Royce set a new aviation milestone with the world’s first run of a modern aeroplane engine fuelled by green hydrogen. To further underpin the commitment to achieving our net zero roadmap, easyJet announced a partnership with Airbus, Bristol Airport and EDF Hynamics, with the objective of turning Bristol Airport into a hydrogen hub.

Revenue, Cost and Liquidity

Revenue continued to benefit from strong demand for easyJet’s leading network, the continued outperformance of ancillary products and easyJet holidays. Significant fuel price increases year on year and the strengthened USD have resulted in fuel cost per seat being 76% (£8.44) more than the same period last year. One-off costs were incurred during the quarter as 15 wet leased aircraft utilised in summer 22 left the fleet at the end of October.

Financing costs benefitted from the strengthening of sterling versus the USD over the quarter which has driven a non-operating, non-cash FX gain of £13 million (Q1 FY22: £15 million gain) from balance sheet revaluations. 

Q1’23Q1’22Variance
Passenger revenue (£’m)97554778%
Airline ancillary revenue (£’m)40623077%
Holidays revenue2 (£’m)9328232%
Group revenue (£’m)1,47480583%
Fuel costs (£’m)(393)(171)(130)%
Airline headline EBITDAR costs (£’m)(959)(647)(48)%
Holidays EBITDAR costs2 (£’m)(80)(29)(176)%
Group headline EBITDAR costs (£’m)(1,432)(847)(69)%
Group headline EBITDAR (£’m)42(42)200%
Group depreciation & amortisation (£’m)(164)(153)(7)%
Group LBIT (£’m)(122)(195)37%
Financing costs excluding balance sheet revaluations (£’m)(24)(33)27%
Balance sheet revaluations (£’m)1315(13)%
Group headline LBT (£’m)(133)(213)38%
Airline passenger revenue per seat (£)48.3535.3737%
Airline ancillary revenue per seat (£)20.1214.8436%
Total airline revenue per seat (£)68.4750.2136%
Airline headline cost per seat ex fuel (£)(56.21)(52.90)(6)%
Airline fuel cost per seat (£)(19.50)(11.06)(76)%
Airline headline total cost per seat (£)(75.71)(63.96)(18)%
Cash and money market deposits (£’bn)3.02.93%
Net debt (£’bn)1.11.28%

Capacity outlook

o  H1 c.38m seats, c.25% increase YoY

o  H2 c.56m seats, c.9% increase YoY

o  Q4 capacity around pre-pandemic levels

Fuel & FX Hedging

Jet FuelH1’23H2’23USDH1’23H2’23
Hedged position78%59%Hedged position75%62%
Average hedged rate ($/MT)$819$900Average hedged rate (USD/GBP)1.291.24
Current spot ($/MT) at 24.01.23c. $1,110Current spot (USD/GBP) at 24.01.23c. 1.23

Top Copyright Photo: easyJet (UK) Airbus A320-214 WL G-EZWG (msn 5318) MAN (Brian Worthington). Image: 959978.

easyJet (UK) aircraft photo gallery: