Easyjet flying high as it cashes in on the collapse of rival

EASYJET FLEW high in the last quarter of 2019 partly on the coattails of Thomas Cook’s collapse as the business upped its revenue guidance.

Chief executive Johan Lundgren, inset, said the low-cost airline believes per-seat revenue grew by 1.5 per cent because of the problems Thomas Cook faced, with overall revenue per seat increasing by 8.8 per cent to £58.63 in the three months to December 31.

The company also said that new initiatives to sell more luggage space, and allocated seats, as well as offering car rentals from a partner, helped push up revenues.

EasyJet said 22.2 million passengers flew on its planes in the quarter, an increase of 2.8 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier.

Meanwhile, passenger revenue grew 9.7 per cent to £1.1bn. The load factor – the percentage of seats that were occupied – was 91.3 per cent, an increase of 1.6 percentage points.

The airline said 75 per cent of its seats have been booked for the first half of the year, ending March 31 – one percentage point ahead of the same time last year. Mr Lundgren said: “I’m pleased that we have made a strong start to the year, with continued positive momentum. The improvement in our revenue per seat has been driven by our self-help revenue initiatives combined with robust customer demand and a lower capacity growth market.” Investors reacted positively to the news, sending shares in the company up 4.5 per cent, rising 65p to 1,515p.

EasyJet founder and largest shareholder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou added he was happy with the performance.

Part of the reason for easyJet’s success in increasing capacity was due to the demise of Thomas Cook, which fell into administration in September, ending a 178-year history.

EasyJet snapped up some of the airline’s slots at airports as administrators tried to sell off parts of the business in order to pay back some of the travel giant’s debts.

Airlines have been keen to muscle in after the collapse, and easyJet has started offering package holidays, the market occupied by Thomas Cook.