Low-cost airline easyJet said it expected to post annual losses of more than £1bn due to the Covid pandemic, but added that it turned cash positive in the final quarter of the financial year driven as demand improved.
The carrier on Tuesday said it expects a headline pre-tax loss of £1.14bn – £1.17bn compared to consensus of £1.175bn. It generated £40m in cash in the three months to September 30 as intra-European and UK domestic demand improved after Covid lockdown measures were eased.
Winter capacity has been increased, with easyJet adding 100,000 seats for the first quarter with particularly strong demand for winter sun destinations. The company said it expects capacity to continue to grow throughout fiscal 2022.
Capacity was now expected to be up to 70% of 2019 first quarter levels in Q1.
“While intra-European demand led the recovery over the summer, the recent UK government announcement to remove and relax restrictions and testing has created positive booking momentum into Q1,” it said in a trading update.
During the fourth quarter easyJet flew 58% of full-year 2019 capacity, a “significant” ramp up from the 17% of 2019 volumes in the previous three months. Domestic traffic in UK and intra-European flying was 77% of 20119 levels, whereas UK International travel was just 32% of levels due to “onerous and expensive” government restrictions.
