Budget airline easyJet has reported third quarter trading in line with expectations, boosted by more customers taking optional extra services and enabling it to reiterate its full-year profit forecasts.
The airline said that revenue for the quarter that on June 30 increased by 11.4% to £1.8 billion, driven by more bookings, initiatives to optimise its pricing and more ancillary revenue from additional services such as allocated seating and luggage check-ins.
Tougher Economic Conditions
The robust trading comes despite a general softening of demand due to tougher economic conditions across Europe as well as Brexit-related consumer uncertainty in Britain, easyJet said.
"Make no mistake, it is still tough out there. It is still a challenging environment...but I think what we are seeing is that the actions we are taking ourselves is having a positive effect," CEO Johan Lundgren told reporters on Thursday July 18.
He added, "We've been pleased with how the late trading has come in, which has been supported by these initiatives."
The airline said it expected to deliver a profit before tax of between £400 million and £440 million, in line with market expectations, and Lundgren said that second-half forward bookings were at 78%, giving the airline better visibility.
New Chief Operating Officer
The budget airline has also announced that it hired Peter Bellew as its chief operating officer.
Bellew is stepping down from his role as Ryanair's chief operations officer at the end of the year, according to a memo to staff seen by Reuters.
Strategy On Capacity
Earlier this week, Ryanair said it had cut its forecast for growth in traveller numbers for summer 2020 to provide for the possibility of further delays in deliveries of the grounded Boeing 737 MAX.
Lundgren said that easyJet's strategy on capacity wouldn't change with anything a competitor was doing.
"But...I think it's good to see that discipline in capacity is coming back into the marketplace, and we are no exception to that," he said.
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