EasyJet narrows full-year loss as travellers return to skies

EasyJet has hailed a “record bounce back” in passenger demand over the summer, helping the low-cost airline narrow its annual loss after enduring two years of Covid-19 related disruption.

The airline on Tuesday posted a pre-tax loss of £178mn for the 12 months to September 30, down from two consecutive years of losses of more than £1bn.

The company said it had “faced multiple headwinds throughout the 2022 financial year”, including the Covid-19 Omicron variant, the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and operational challenges as it stepped up capacity.

Despite these challenges, easyJet said it was heading into the 2023 financial year with “one of the strongest balance sheets in European aviation” and touted a strong performance over summer.

“EasyJet has achieved a record bounce back this summer with a performance which underlines that our transformation is delivering,” said chief executive Johan Lundgren. “The summer saw easyJet achieve its highest ever earnings for a single quarter.”

During the 12 months, easyJet revenues rose almost fourfold to £5.8bn as passenger numbers rose from 20.4mn to 69.7mn. Load factor, a crucial element in airline profitability, rose 13 percentage points year on year to 85.5.

The airline forecast that fuel prices in the first half of its 2023 financial year would rise by more than 50 per cent.

Shares in easyJet, which have lost roughly one-third of their value in 2022, fell 4 per cent in early trading on Tuesday.