Heathrow expansion could open door for easyJet, says new chief Kenton Jarvis

His target is customers who are flying with easyJet but booking their accommodation elsewhere, such as with Booking.com or direct with the hotel. Jarvis claims easyJet holidays can offer better value on seven out of 10 beach packages. “We want to make affordable travel easy,” he says.

Jarvis expects the package brand to expand customer numbers by 25% this year as it steers them away from third-party accommodation providers.

However, he admits easyJet bookings more generally in the January to March quarter “require some stimulation” due to greater capacity and new route launches, especially to mid-haul destinations in North Africa and also Cape Verde. Some of these, he says, will require “two to three years” to fully mature and need price incentives.

"We’re 57% sold on that increased capacity, but we need to put out some great fares to make sure we fill the aircraft during this period,” he says, adding some city routes also “needed price stimulation”.

The tour operation has some catching up to do; for the same January to March period, easyJet holidays is 45% sold, although Jarvis says package pricing is “broadly similar, maybe slightly increased” compared with last year.

Heathrow ambitions?

He takes office just with the government poised to rule on expansion at Gatwick and Luton, and Heathrow’s third runway.

Jarvis reveals easyJet would consider flying from Heathrow if a third runway meant slots become available, pointing out easyJet already serves major European cities and hubs like Paris, Amsterdam and Geneva.

"Heathrow’s never been an airport we could look at because you can’t enter with any scale as it’s slot constrained,” he says. “The reason we’ve never entered before is because we could only get two or three aircraft in.”

However, he stresses easyJet would need to be “incentivised” to fly from Heathrow – indicating he would not support higher landing fees to pay for a third runway. “Heathrow will only offer more choice and more affordable fares if airlines like easyJet can afford to fly from there,” he says.

Jarvis favours bringing Gatwick’s second runway into use, but warns this is not the complete answer to the airport’s issues, which he says are more to do with the limited airspace around the airport – a legacy of 1950s planning.

"We support the second runway to be used first for resilience before they add any more capacity," he adds. "The limiting factor with Gatwick is the congested airspace. The second runway will not help unless they address the congestion.”

Meanwhile, there is 2025 to plan for, and Jarvis is feeling confident. Full-year airline bookings are up by 8%, meaning an additional one million passengers already booked.

That £1 billion profit target might not happen this year, but easyJet’s new boss appears to be on track.

Gary Noakes is TTG’s senior contributor and analyst.