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EasyJet has warned that “worsening” air traffic control delays and a rise in fuel prices will hit its full-year profits, even as it reported strong demand for travel this summer.
The low-cost airline on Thursday said it expected to take a £25mn hit from the two headwinds in its current financial year, which runs to the end of September.
The EU has warned that airline delays could be at their worst ever this summer as understaffed air traffic controllers battle strikes, wildfires and high demand.
This month, a strike by French air traffic controllers caused disruption in the skies across Europe, leading to the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
“We are extremely unhappy with the strike action by the French ATC in early July,” said Kenton Jarvis, easyJet’s chief executive.
“As well as presenting unacceptable challenges for customers and crew, [the strikes] also created unexpected and significant costs for all airlines,” said Jarvis.
EasyJet reported pre-tax profits of £286mn in the three months to the end of June, a 21 per cent year-on-year rise and in line with analyst estimates.
Passenger numbers climbed 2 per cent, and the airline said it had benefited from the timing of Easter, which this year fell in the third quarter.
The carrier was also upbeat about the prospects for the peak summer months.
It said the outlook for the rest of its financial year “remains positive”, and forecast “good profit growth” year on year.
Still, with 67 per cent of seats sold for the July to September quarter, easyJet said it remained reliant on late summer bookings.
Analysts at Bernstein said the earnings report left easyJet “broadly on track” to report record pre-tax profits of £700mn for the full year. That result would beat its previous record of £686mn in 2015.
