Addressing media after easyJet posted its first quarter results on Thursday (29 January), Jarvis identified Egypt, Morocco and Cape Verde as increasingly popular options. "It's those non-EU destinations where we're seeing lengthening average sector lengths [flight distances]," he explained.

Jarvis said demand for non-EU destinations was outpacing "stable" domestic and city business. "That's the reality," he continued, highlighting "increasing demand" for all parts of Egypt.

It comes after easyJet last October named Marrakech as its first African base, which is due to open in the spring. Jarvis said Marrakech had become easyJet's number one destination without a base following strong growth from the UK, France and other markets.

No January blues

EasyJet is on course for a record January in terms of new booked revenue, despite a slow start to the year. Jarvis said the timing of the Christmas and new year bank holidays meant the first weekend of the year "wasn't the usual blow away you expect".

He said business grew as people got back to work, "and ramped up from the Saturday [10 January]" as the weather – which he characterised as "wet and miserable" – "became more conducive to booking".

"This January was our strongest-ever January," he said. "It's a big booking month, and everyone does fantastic sales promotions, but this was our strongest."

Holidays 'well-positioned for rapid growth'

EasyJet revealed a deeper £93 million pre-tax first quarter (three months to the end of December) loss on Thursday owing to costs relating to its new bases at Milan Linate and Rome Fiumicino airports, but the airline said some of that hit had been "offset" by easyJet holidays' strong winter performance.

The operator posted a £50 million pre-tax Q1 profit on Thursday, up from £43 million a year earlier, while its revenue grew by more than a quarter from £247 million to £311 million.

EasyJet holidays 'maintaining strong growth trajectory'

"We continue to see travel being prioritised," said Jarvis, who said easyJet was on course for a record January for booked revenue, and predicted summer 2026 would be the airline and operator's "biggest ever". On easyJet holidays specifically, he said the operator was "well-positioned to grow rapidly", predicting 15% passenger growth this year.

Pressed on air fares, Jarvis said that while easyJet's "rask" – revenue per available seat kilometre – was flat during Q1, it was running slightly ahead for all three months of Q2 (January, February and March). "That's a good indication," he said. "We're pretty comfortable with where the fares are."

Onboard WiFi?

Jarvis said easyJet was in talks with Elon Musk's Starlink about a deal to bring onboard WiFi to easyJet's aircraft, but stressed "the economics" weren't quite working out for easyJet at the moment. "It's a good product. When the time is right, we'll look to add it [WiFi]. But not today."

He said it was impossible to put a timeline on this, or comment on whether easyJet would charge for WiFi, with other providers like Amazon coming to market with alternative propositions.

However, he said these offerings were already "significantly better" than they were a year and a half ago, adding there would be convergence at some point.

Fleet renewal

Jarvis added he didn't anticipate further delays in new aircraft deliveries from Airbus, explaining deliveries over the past 12 month had been "pretty consistent".

Airbus delivered all nine scheduled for 2025, with 17 more expected this year. Jarvis said the first two of these had been delivered early, adding he was increasingly confident the further 30 due in 2027 and 43 in 2028 would be delivered on time following assurances from Airbus.