EasyJet is praising a record January booking surge as passengers prioritize travel in the new year amid signs that airlines are finally recovering after the pandemic.
The airline stated that despite the ongoing cost of living crisis in the UK, it expects to surpass market expectations for profits this year.
EasyJet reported that it saw the usual January boom in bookings returning, with record numbers hitting several days as customers booked packages and flights for the next months and this summer.
According to the carrier, there was strong demand for travel within the UK. EasyJet holidays have already been sold at 60% for this summer.
According to the company, easyJet holidays is still the UK’s fastest-growing major vacation company and that there has been an increase of 161% in customers year-on-year.
It expects 50% growth in its holiday business, a significant increase from the 30% it previously predicted.
Johan Lundgren is easyJet’s chief Executive Officer. He stated that many customers returned to make bookings during their traditional turn-of year sale, where five aircraft were filled every minute during peak hours. This resulted in three record-breaking weekends of sales revenue.
EasyJet spoke with more optimism than it did in November’s last update to investors. It said that bookings for peak periods, including Christmas, had rebounded but that it was still struggling to find enough passengers during quieter times.
The carrier reported a pre-tax headline loss of PS133m in the last three months of the year. However, this was a substantial improvement over the PS213m loss it suffered in the fourth quarter of 2021.
EasyJet reported that it carried nearly 50% more passengers in the last three months than a year ago and expects to reduce its losses for the period October through March.