EasyJet reduces losses and increases revenue in first half despite fleet grounding

A UK airline has announced a decrease in losses for the first half of the year despite the fleet being grounded due to coronavirus.

EasyJet started to cancel flights in the wake of the pandemic in February, with all flights being grounded by the end of March.

The company has announced that it expects to deliver a headline loss before tax of between £185m to £205m, improved by £70m to £90m against the first half of 2019.

It also saw revenue increase by 1.6 per cent to £2,382m, up from 2019’s £2,343m.

EasyJet said that deferring the purchase of 24 new aircraft has helped it to combat the effects of its fleet being grounded.

Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet, commented: “Our first half trading performance was very strong prior to the impact of coronavirus, which shows the strength of easyJet’s business model.

“Since then I have been immensely proud of our team, right across the business, and the way they have worked through these tough times to put us in the strong position we are in now.

“We took swift action to meet the challenges of the virus and in a period of around 7 weeks have; launched a cost cutting initiative and dramatically brought down our cash burn; grounded our entire fleet in a well planned and executed process; delivered an updated fleet deal deferring 24 aircraft, while also maintaining a level of flexibility that will be very important when this crisis ends.

“This change, combined with the deferral and cancellation of a number of other projects has helped to drive a circa £1bn decrease in capex over three years:

“And finally, [we have] executed a funding programme which will add almost £2bn in extra cash funding, strengthening our liquidity position.

“These decisive actions mean that easyJet is well positioned to endure a prolonged grounding.

“We remain focused on doing what is right for the company for its long term health and to ensure we are in a good position to resume flying when the pandemic is over.

“While the vast majority of our people are not able to work at this time, there is a small number working tirelessly to help our customers, and to plan for our return to the skies, whenever that might be.”

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