Jet2 swings to first-half profit, lifts FY earnings outlook

Jet2 lifted its full-year earnings outlook on Thursday as it said it swung to a profit in the first half.

In the half year to 30 September, the travel group swung to a pre-tax profit of £450.7m from a loss of £205.8m in the same period a year earlier as revenue surged 730% to £3.6bn.

The swing to profit came even as the company took a hit "in excess of £50m" from broader disruption across the aviation sector and its supply chains in mid-summer.

Jet2 said seat capacity increased 14% against Summer 2019 and that "buoyant" customer demand meant the business achieved an average load factor of 90.7%, versus 93.1% in 2019.

Executive chairman Philip Meeson said: "Our Leisure Travel business has continued its encouraging recovery following the reopening of international travel in early 2022.

"Strong customer demand, in particular for package holidays, plus a robust pricing environment and considered cost control, have underpinned a substantially improved financial performance compared to recent Covid impacted summer seasons, but also against pre-Covid Summer 2019."

Jet2 also said that with Winter 2022/23 bookings encouraging and pricing remaining robust, it is on track to exceed current market expectations for group profit before FX revaluation and taxation for the year ending 31 March 2023.