EasyJet sees summer capacity at pre-Covid levels as losses halved

The company on Thursday reported a headline loss before tax for the quarter ending December 31 of £213m, compared with £423m a year ago. Total group revenue for it first quarter increased to £805m against £165m a year ago.

The airline said it had about 67% of pre-pandemic capacity on sale for the current quarter, up from around 50% in January. In November, before the Omicron Covid variant started to dampen sentiment, easyJet had forecast its capacity this quarter would be around 70% of pre-pandemic levels.

“We see a strong summer ahead, with pent up demand that will see easyJet returning to near 2019 levels of capacity with UK beach and leisure routes performing particularly well,” said chief executive Johan Lundgren.

Cash burn during the first quarter - seasonally the weakest quarter for working capital - was more than halved at £450m despite the removal of furlough across most of Europe and included delivery payments, as easyJet took delivery of four new aircraft during the period.