Easyjet boosts flight schedule

Easyjet has said it is operating more flights than previously planned due to demand exceeding expectations.

The airline is expanding its schedule to 40 per cent of normal capacity between July and September, compared with the 30 per cent it had predicted in June.

In the three months to the end of June, the budget carrier made just £7 million in revenue after the its fleet was grounded from 30 March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It started flying again in the middle of June and carried 117,000 passengers in the 132,000 seats it had available in the last two weeks of the quarter, Easyjet said.

Chief executive Johan Lundgren said: “Returning to the skies again allows us to do what we do best and take our customers on much-needed holidays.

“I am extremely proud of all of our people whose care and commitment, along with the introduction of our industryleading biosecurity measures, have resulted in customer satisfaction scores reaching a high of 80 per cent since the re-start, an increase of 13 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

“I am really encouraged that we have seen higher-thanexpected levels of demand with load factor of 84 per cent in July with destinations like Faro and Nice remaining popular with customers. Our bookings for the remainder of the summer are performing better than expected and as a result, we have decided to expand our schedule over the fourth quarter to fly circa 40 per cent of capacity.

“This increased flying will allow us to connect even more customers to family or friends and to take the breaks they have worked hard for.”

Sophie Lund-yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown,said:“overallthere are some signs of positivity at Easyjet, but it would be a mistake to assume the challenges are over.”