EasyJet swings to profit in Q3 amid strong demand

Budget airline easyJet said on Thursday that it swung to a pre-tax profit in the third quarter amid strong passenger demand, and that it expects to post record profit for the fourth quarter.

For the quarter to the end of June, the company reported headline pre-tax profit of £203m, versus a loss of £114m in the same period a year earlier, with revenue up 34% to £2.36bn.

EasyJet saw passenger growth of 7% year-on-year, while ticket yield per passenger was up 22%.

Based on current booking trends, the airline expects to deliver another record pre-tax profit performance for the fourth quarter, with revenue per seat up around 10% and cost per seat excluding fuel for H2'23 expected to remain broadly flat on the year.

Chief executive Johan Lundgren said: "Our Q3 performance has been underpinned by strong passenger demand for easyJet's network and services. We continue to provide great value to customers with around half of easyJet's fares currently on sale still under £50.

"We are absolutely focused on mitigating the impact of the challenging external environment on our customers and flying them on their well-earned holidays.

"We continue to see good momentum as we move into Q4 where we will be operating over 160,000 flights and expect to deliver another record PBT performance. This winter we are adding more than 15% capacity and we see bookings ahead of the same period last year."