Gatwick is easyJet’s largest airport base and now faces competition from British Airways’ new BA Euroflyer subsidiary, which is due to operate 35 routes from the Sussex airport from 29 March. While Wizz Air is also expanding after acquiring more slots at Gatwick.
Lundgren expressed “extraordinary confidence” about easyJet’s ability to compete with BA and Wizz Air from Gatwick, while pointing out that Wizz was only basing five aircraft at the airport.
“We’re not complacent about any of the competitors,” he said. “We’re very pleased about our presence – we have 79 aircraft from Gatwick this summer compared with other operators having five aircraft.
“We feel extraordinary confidence for our ability to compete at Gatwick. Fares are going to stay attractive for our customers.”
Lundgren made his comments as easyJet unveiled its first quarter results and highlighted a surge in bookings from the UK to beach destinations.
“Now we are seeing that the UK is actually ahead of Europe for the first time since the pandemic started in terms of bookings,” he added.
“Pent-up demand in the UK is now starting to crystallise as restrictions are removed.”
Lundgren said that there was “strong demand” for traditional beach and leisure destinations such as Spain, Turkey and Greece, and he expected this market to “recover quicker” than city destinations.
The airline will be operating its highest-ever capacity from the UK to beach destinations this summer between July and September, which will be around 13% higher than for the same period in 2019.
EasyJet holidays is also expected to continue benefiting from this “pent-up demand”, with the operator set to cater for “a little bit more than” one million passengers this year.
“We’re in a very good position with easyJet holidays – we’re just very excited about that and what that’s going to deliver this summer and beyond,” said Lundgren.
He said it was “too early tell” what would happen to airfares in 2022, but added that easyJet was in “a better position” than other carriers to deal with the increase in aviation fuel prices because of its hedging strategy.
EasyJet is currently 60% hedged for the year, which Lundgren said allowed the airline to “mitigate cost increases to make sure we’re competitive”.
