EasyJet says path to travel recovery will be bumpy

The CE of British airline easyJet always expected bumps along the way to a travel recovery, he said on Monday, denying that a third wave of COVID-19 infections in Europe put the carrier at risk. Government ministers have repeatedly warned Britons not to book holidays abroad, given pandemic uncertainty, threatening airlines’ hopes for a summer recovery. The latest warnings sent travel and airline stocks down by as much as 8% on Monday. British PM Boris Johnson, meanwhile, said the rise in infections in continental Europe, a so-called third wave, could head to the UK, placing the peak holiday season in further jeopardy. “I never thought that this was going to be a straight line,” easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren said Monday. Lundgren said he expected “bumps along the way” but what was important was that vaccines were being rolled out, providing light at the end of the tunnel. “The more you can successfully roll this out, the easier and the faster you can remove the (travel) restrictions because it will be safe to do so,” he said.<br/>