Conflicts in the Middle East have cost easyJet more than £40m as a result of flight suspensions and weakening demand, the airline has said.
The company said that, while its year-on-year results had improved, the conflicts in Gaza and the Middle East had hit trading.
In the days after the 7 October attacks in Israel, easyJet was one of a number of carriers that paused flights to Israel and nearby Jordan for safety reasons. These flights are yet to resume.
The airline said the £40m loss was largely because of suspending these flights but there had also been a softening in demand for flights to Egypt since the onset of the conflict. These routes make up about 4% of easyJet’s winter flight schedule.
The airline reported a pre-tax loss of £126m in the final quarter of 2023, an improvement on the £133m loss during the same period last year. Airlines typically record seasonal winter losses as demand for holidays and flights drops. Group revenues at easyJet rose by 22% to £1.8bn.
In November, Johan Lundgren, its chief executive, said the Israel-Gaza war had caused a “short-term industry-wide impact on [flight] searches and bookings”, similar to the effect easyJet experienced at the outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022.
The group’s holiday booking arm, easyJet Holidays, which was launched in 2019, posted a profit of £30m for the final three months of 2023, up from £13m in the same period last year.
The company predicted its first-half results would be up year on year despite the Middle East hit. It said the improved results came from “disciplined capacity growth” where demand was strongest and from productivity benefits.
Lundgren said: “We see positive booking momentum for summer 2024 with travel remaining a priority for consumers.
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“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.”
