EasyJet optimistic about summer as leisure travel demand picks up

Low-cost airline easyJet said the operational problems plaguing the airline industry would not derail a strong summer, but cautioned that the financial pressures facing consumers might threaten demand later in the year. The London-listed airline said on Thursday that it expected to fly 90% of its pre-pandemic schedule between April and June, rising to 97% for the following three months. Bookings have risen to 6% above 2019 levels in the past 10 weeks, thanks to a surge in demand for leisure and domestic flying as travel restrictions have eased. EasyJet’s aims are slightly more cautious than rival Ryanair, which this week outlined plans to fly 115 per cent of its 2019 flight schedules in the summer. The rapid recovery has come as parts of the aviation industry have struggled to cope with the sudden influx of passengers. EasyJet was forced to cancel scores of flights this spring because of staff shortages exacerbated by a wave of Covid-related absences. The airline went as far as stripping out some seats from its planes to allow it to fly with fewer crew under flight safety regulations, but CE Johan Lundgren said the problems had not hit bookings and that people were still keen to travel. “Bookings are not affected and are particularly strong, it shows the pent up demand is there,” he said. Despite the optimism, the company joined Ryanair in declining to give guidance for the rest of its financial year, which ends in September, pointing to “the continued level of short-term uncertainty” driven by customers booking later than was normal before the pandemic. Lundgren said he expected the cost of living crisis to “certainly have some effect”.<br/>