Easyjet soars despite £40m Middle East hit as it targets a summer holiday boom

Easyjet is looking forward to a summer boom but warned war in the Middle East has cost it £40million.

The budget airline said bookings for the warmer months were ‘building well’ with Spain, Portugal, Greece and Turkey proving hugely popular.

But it warned of a ‘short term’ hit after it suspended its flights to Israel and Jordan in the wake of the Hamas terror attacks in October.

The war in Gaza has led to a ‘temporary slowdown’ in bookings across the industry, Easyjet bosses acknowledged.

Services to Egypt have also been affected. These destinations make up around 4pc of Easyjet’s winter schedule.

Summer plans: Easyjet said bookings for the warmer months were ‘building well’ with Spain, Portugal, Greece and Turkey proving hugely popular

Despite the disruption, it said it narrowed losses to £126million in the final three months of 2023, having made a £133million loss a year earlier. 

Quarterly sales rose 22 per cent to £1.8billion as more people travelled after Covid.

Easyjet carried 19.8m passengers in October, November and December – the first quarter of its financial year – compared to 17.5m the year before.

In the optimistic update, the firm said it expected losses for its first half, which runs between October and March, to narrow even more.

Consumers are enthusiastic to get away this summer, including to traditional options such as Antalya in Turkey and Mallorca in the Balearics, Easyjet said.

In its major ‘Big Orange’ January sale, the Greek island Skiathos and Calabria in Italy also stood out.

Chief executive Johan Lundgren said: ‘We see positive booking momentum for summer 2024 with travel remaining a priority for consumers. 

Flight and holidays bookings took off strongly during the traditional busy turn-of-year sales period, as customers opted to secure their summer holidays to firm favourites like Spain and Portugal alongside destinations further afield like Greece and Turkey.’

The Luton-based company was among the airlines to cash in last summer as holidaymakers booked up trips despite higher ticket prices.

And it seems likely this will be the case next summer too as volumes and prices have increased for early bookings compared to the same period last year.

Easyjet shares rose 2.4 per cent, or 12p, to 520.2p yesterday.

Sophie Lund-Yates, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘Geopolitical conflict can spook many industries, especially airlines.

‘Shutting down routes is a very expensive undertaking and it’s unclear when things will normalise.

‘Looking further into the year, summer bookings look robust, in a sign that travel remains a priority for consumers. There is some uncertainty about how long these trends can hold though.’

Investors will hope bookings remain resilient after Easyjet reinstated its dividend last year, with a 4.5p payout, and said it expected a dividend for this current financial year to increase to 20 per cent of profits.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk