Chief executive Kenton Jarvis said the fall in the price of aviation fuel would affect pricing this summer despite his airline having increased capacity by only 1% year on year. According to Iata, aviation fuel is currently around $84 a barrel – 15% cheaper than the previous year’s average.
Jarvis, who was speaking on Thursday (22 May) as easyJet revealed its first half results, said there was 2-3% extra capacity in the market in general, but that easyJet was being cautious after a record summer last year. “We are adding 1%, we are flying longer sectors, restoring cities and some domestic.”
More: easyJet to open Newcastle airport base next summer
He was unsure of the effect on pricing of easyJet’s cautious approach going into peak season. “We don’t really know yet,” he said, but added: “Fuel is coming down; we are expecting it to be down 8% this summer, therefore there will be some good prices off the back of that.”
Jarvis said easyJet was 42% sold in the July-September period, “so it is very much all to play for”, adding he was confident the business overall “can deliver another record” this summer.
He was detailing easyJet’sesults for the six months to 31 March 2025. He said bookings had “not seen any impact from protests” about overtourism in key destinations.
“We still see popular destinations like mainland Spain and Portugal, the Greek islands, remaining popular,” he said. He added North Africa and the new easyJet destination of Cape Verde were selling well.
Jarvis also hailed the opening of a new three-aircraft base at Newcastle airport next year as good for the package side of the business. “It enables us to further grow our share of the UK leisure market and to drive easyJet Holidays’ share of growth,” he said.
He said easyJet was on target for its “medium-term” goal of £1 billion profits. Last year, it reported pre-tax earnings of £602 million. EasyJet holidays, meanwhile, is "on track" to achieve its £250 million pre-tax profit target earlier than anticipated.
Holidays is currently 77% sold for the second half of the year, and Jarvis said the group was continuing to see "strong demand" for its flights and holidays. The group added: "Airline performance was complemented by strong easyJet holidays performance."
