EasyJet forecasts shrinking losses despite GBP40m hit from Middle East conflict

EasyJet said it expected winter losses to narrow this year, despite a GBP40m hit from conflict in the Middle East. The low-cost carrier on Wednesday reported a “short-term” impact from the outbreak of war in October after it suspended flights to Israel and Jordan, and the wider travel industry suffered a “temporary slowdown” in bookings. But easyJet said demand for travel during the crucial summer season had been “building well”, and early indications implied that ticket prices would remain high this year. Shares in the airline rose 5% in early trading on Wednesday, amid its comments about a healthy summer trading environment. Johan Lundgren, easyJet’s CE, said demand for the summer looked “positive”. “We see positive booking momentum for summer 2024 with travel remaining a priority for consumers,” he said. “Flight and holidays bookings took off strongly during the traditional busy turn-of-year sales period, as customers opted to secure their summer holidays,” Lundgren said. The update comes after airlines enjoyed a bumper summer in 2023, with high ticket prices failing to deter passengers from travelling. But airlines have still faced questions over whether demand for travel can withstand the weak economic backdrop. EasyJet said early bookings this year had shown an increase “in both volume and pricing” compared with the same period last year. It is the first major European airline to update on trading this year, and analysts at Bernstein said it had “confidently kicked off reporting season”. “Pricing is healthy. In our view this reflects the supply-constrained environment in European short-haul and bodes well for another strong year for European point-to-point airlines,” the analysts said.<br/>