Airline EasyJet thinks it will be able to transport as many people again next summer as it did three years ago before the world had to deal with corona restrictions.
According to Lundgren, the Greek islands and other destinations around the Mediterranean are especially popular now. “EasyJet will be the largest airline on the most popular Greek islands this summer,” said the Swede. Flying between cities has a somewhat slower recovery. “But that has also been increasing recently.”
The budget fighter had to cancel hundreds of flights at the beginning of this month due to staff illness. Lundgren disputes that easyJet is struggling with staff shortages. According to the CEO, an extreme wave of sick reports could not be counted on. According to him, out of a total of about 1600 daily flights, the number of cancellations was not too bad. He said he was not concerned about being able to deploy sufficient staff next summer.
The rapidly rising fuel prices also cause extra costs for easyJet, but the airline reports that parties have committed fuel at a relatively low price for a longer period. “We are well equipped for that,” says Lundgren. However, to compensate for the extra costs, he says that prices can be increased slightly during the high season.
The British airline is not affected by the war in Ukraine as far as flight routes are concerned. No flights have already taken place to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine and Eastern European destinations such as Budapest and Krakow account for more than 1 percent of the total capacity. “In addition, none of our routes flew through Ukrainian, Belarusian or Russian airspace, so we are not exposed to flying longer routes and increased fuel consumption,” easyJet said.
EasyJet did record a loss in the past six months, which is expected to be about 700 million pounds. However, in the next three months, approximately 90 percent of the number of flights will be flown compared to the number of the same period in 2019.