The budget airline easyJet has said its summer holiday bookings are lagging behind last year as the Iran war weights on consumer confidence and has left passengers waiting later to book trips.
The carrier said it had to spend an unexpected extra £25m on jet fuel in March after the start of the US and Israel’s war on Iran.
However, easyJet said it was not experiencing any disruption to fuel supplies, adding that it had its usual visibility of supplies over a rolling four-week period. It does not expect to cancel any further flights this summer despite the warning in April by Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary that the UK was the most vulnerable country in Europe to potential jet fuel shortages should the strait of Hormuz remain closed.
The airline said that customers should “book with confidence” amid signs that worries over fuel shortages and resulting flight cancellations were discouraging travellers, echoing comments from rivals including Ryanair.
The airline said customers were still reluctant to book far ahead of time, with many waiting until the month of departure to commit to travelling.
“We continue to see positive late bookings since the conflict began; however, overall bookings for the summer period are behind where they were at this point last year,” it said.
The company has hedged 72% of its fuel needs for the next six months, covering the busy summer period up to the end of September. However, it has temporarily suspended short-term hedging as a result of “elevated near-term fuel prices”.
It came as easyJet reported a £552m pre-tax loss for the six months to 31 March compared with a loss of £394m in the same period a year earlier. The carrier typically makes its money in the second half of the year, which includes the peak summer period.
The airline said it had raised its minimum ticket fare in response to higher fuel costs and was actively reviewing all of its discretionary costs.
Kenton Jarvis, easyJet’s chief executive, said the airline was able to cope with the current situation: “Despite conflict in the Middle East creating near‑term uncertainty, easyJet is well placed to manage the current environment, supported by one of the strongest investment‑grade balance sheets in European aviation.
“EasyJet is not seeing any disruption to fuel supply, we continue to operate normally and our customers should book with confidence.”
The airline said it had reviewed its summer flight schedule in March after the outbreak of the conflict, resulting in a 0.3% net reduction in seats for the summer. However, it now intends to operate its full summer schedule as planned.
The carrier said it continued to experience strong demand for its holiday packages, with customer numbers increasing by 22% in the six months to March compared with a year earlier.