The carrier said network optimisations, improved ancillary performance and an ongoing cost focus had allowed it to take advantage of strong seasonal flight demand.
Headline loss before tax for the six months to 31 March 2023 is expected to come in between £405 million and £425 million, despite headwinds. These include heightened fuel costs, inflation and costs arising from "building resilience" into its summer programme.
EasyJet said a "robust" Easter period passed off without the issues experienced a year earlier following the post-Covid restart, adding current booking momentum was continuing into the summer.
In a first-half trading update issued on Tuesday (18 April), easyJet claimed improved first-half performance running to in excess of £120 million. It also now expects to exceed its current market profit expectations for its 2022/23 full-year of £260 million.
EasyJet holidays, meanwhile, the carrier’s in-house tour operator, is set to grow beyond expectations this year by circa 60% year-on-year, up from a previous forecast of 50% as it "continues to benefit from strong UK demand". The operator is currently 80% sold for the summer.
Johan Lundgren, easyJet chief executive, said: "Demand for easyJet’s flights and holidays has continued to grow in the half, resulting in more than a £120 million pound improvement in our performance as well as a billion pound revenue improvement year-on-year.
"We see continued strong booking momentum into summer as customers prioritise spending on travel and choose airlines like easyJet, as well as easyJet holidays which is continuing its steep growth trajectory as the fastest growing holidays company in the UK. All of this means easyJet expects to outperform FY23 market expectations.”
Recruitment focus
EasyJet ramped up capacity by 40% from January to March, with this growth set to continue into the summer season when easyJet returns to pre-pandemic levels of capacity.
EasyJet said the rebound followed its "largest-ever crew onboarding campaign" follow a recruitment drive where applications exceeded available roles by eight to one.
Over Easter, easyJet operated around 1,600 flights a day, with capacity back to pre-pandemic levels and "positive yield growth" compared with Easter 2019.
During its second quarter (three months to 31 March 2023), easyJet flew 15.6 million passengers, up from 11.5 million a year earlier, on an improved load factor of 88%, up from 78% during Q2 2021/22.
First-half capacity ran to around 56 million seats, up 9% year-on-year, with third-quarter (three months to 30 June 2023) seats set to grow 7% year-on-year to 26 million.
