EasyJet has issued a jet fuel update for passengers with flights booked in June, July and August. The airline has taken drastic measures to stave off any cancellations and disruption to its summer holiday schedule.
Extra Fuel Costs
EasyJet, which competes with Jet2, Ryanair, TUI and others, said it had to spend an unexpected extra £25 million on jet fuel in March after the start of the US and Israel's war on Iran.
EasyJet, which operates flights from Birmingham, said that customers should “book with confidence.” “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 stated.
Hedging Suspension
The airline has temporarily suspended short-term hedging as a result of “elevated near-term fuel prices,” it added.
Kenton Jarvis, EasyJet’s chief executive, said: “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.”
EU Border System Criticism
Hitting out at the new European Union entry and exit system, Jarvis told ITV News on Thursday: “It's completely unacceptable, they’ve had since 2017 to prepare for this eventuality, and they’ve obviously done a very poor job.”
In April, around 100 EasyJet passengers were left in Milan after the new border checks delayed them. The airline's boss defended leaving passengers behind, saying “our crews have regulated hours where they can fly and if you wait too long the crew will go out of hours and not be able to complete the flight, so we have no choice.”
The airline chief says problems are “easing” since the scheme was first introduced. Jarvis said: “Naturally, we have no financial obligation because our obligation was to bring the aircraft to the gate, wait for the passengers and fly on the scheduled time.”
