EasyJet vows to 'strengthen' tour op's customer base following strong results
Harry KembleEasyJet has promised “targeted” investments to strengthen easyJet holidays’ customer base after its tour operating arm’s profits jumped 56% to £190 million.
In the 12 months to 30 September, EasyJet’s £610 million profits were 34% higher year on year, while easyJet holidays’ UK market share grew from 5% to 7% as passenger levels increased by 36%.
On easyJet holidays’ growth, easyJet argued that robust financial performance is being delivered through “strong customer satisfaction of 84%, with 82% likely to rebook”.
It added: “As the easyJet holidays business grows in scale, targeted investments will be made to strengthen the customer base.
“Future initiatives are under way to optimise pricing and increase the attachment rate, such as improving the city proposition, alongside enhancing the product offering through dynamic inventory and further ancillary products.”
The group’s headline pre-tax profit per seat increased by 24%, achieving £6.08 per seat. It is targeting a profit range per seat of between £7 and £10.
EasyJet said it managed to reduce winter losses by £40 million through “a combination of productivity and utilisation benefits”.
The carrier’s fleet grew to 181, thanks to the addition of 16 new A320neo family aircraft, driving cost efficiencies of around £25 million.
EasyJet added: “These results represent a positive momentum towards our target to sustainably generate over £1 billion profit before tax.”
In the financial year, easyJet flew 6.9 million more passengers than over the same period in 2023. Total revenue increased by 14%, reducing to £9.3 billion – up from 8.17 billion.
EasyJet said this was “primarily due to an increase of 8% in capacity to 100.4 million seats, the continued growth of easyJet holidays and total seat pricing strength”.
Looking ahead, easyJet said Q1 capacity is 80% sold and Q2 capacity is 26% – up two percentage points year on year.
New year, new chief executive
Outgoing easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren, who will leave the company in January, said: "This strong performance – resulting in a 34% increase in our annual profits – reflects the effectiveness and execution of our strategy as well as continued popularity of our flights and holidays.
“It also represents a significant step towards our goal of sustainably generating over £1 billion annual profit before tax.”
He added: “I am pleased to be leaving a strong easyJet, the future for the company is bright.”
His successor Kenton Jarvis, currently easyJet’s chief financial officer, explained that consumers “valued” the airline’s “low fares, unrivalled network and friendly service”.
“The airline will continue to grow, particularly on popular longer leisure routes like North Africa and the Canaries and we plan to take 25% more customers away on package holidays, as easyJet holidays continues to thrive,” he continued.
“I am looking forward to taking over the controls of this fantastic business in the new year and we still have a lot to go for as we progress towards our ambitious targets."
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