Rollin coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as budget airline easyJet warns it lost up to £845m last year
EasyJet says that the UK government’s quarantine rules had a significant impact on business last month.
During the last quarter (July to September), it only flew 38% of planned capacity. It nudged over 50% in August, before the prospect of 14-day quarantining for arrivals from popular sunspots like Spain, France, and Portugal deterred customers from booking.
Flying peaked in August and then tapered significantly during September when customer demand was materially affected by changes in government travel guidance and quarantine rules.
Customers are booking at a very late stage and visibility remains limited.
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#BREAKING EasyJet expects annual pre-tax loss of up to £845 mn pic.twitter.com/y9lofVtR1p
“Based on current travel restrictions we expect to fly c.25% of planned capacity for Q1 2021 but we retain the flexibility to ramp up capacity quickly when we see demand return and early booking levels for summer ‘21 are in line with previous years.
“Aviation continues to face the most severe threat in its history and the UK Government urgently needs to step up with a bespoke package of measures to ensure airlines are able to support economic recovery when it comes.
easyJet came into this crisis in a very strong position thanks to its strong balance sheet and consistent profitability. This year will be the first time in its history that easyJet has ever made a full year loss.