EasyJet expects sustained traffic this summer. The low-cost British airline wants to be reassuring in the current international context.
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EasyJet says it has already exceeded its forecasts for the past six months and expects to return to flight levels close to those of 2019, i.e. before the crisis. Demand is there and this summer should confirm the trend thanks in particular to the French sector, whose recovery is above the average for the entire European network. EasyJet is today the second largest air carrier in France after Air France thanks to its very good presence in regional airports.
We have come out of what is called the “stop and go” period so dreaded by entrepreneurs: we stop and we start again. We stop the activity at the request of the authorities because of the pandemic, then we suddenly start again because the constraints are lifted but we are not necessarily prepared for it and it is a complicated period to manage. This phase has moved away. EasyJet’s France director, Bertrand Godinot, notes a catch-up phenomenon: the resumption of trips not made during the pandemic concerns both traditional leisure customers and business travelers.
The activity was shattered by the pandemic and this spring is still marked by the absence of personnel affected by the Covid. Some two hundred flights were canceled the first weekend in April due to staff shortages. But thanks to a strong base in France (1,600 full-time equivalent jobs) and an agreement reached with the unions on the organization, damage is limited. In March, the group regained 80% of its capacity compared to pre-pandemic levels. Despite everything, EasyJet remains in the red of some 640 million euros, but the loss is in the process of being reduced.