Jet2 recovers from covid and summer travel chaos with 730 per cent revenue boom
Low cost leisure airline Jet2 had a whopping 730 per cent rise in revenue and booming profits of more than £350m as Brits flock on holiday post-pandemic.
The listed firm announced strong half-year results up until the end of September, with profit before foreign exchange valuation up to £505m, following a £195m loss in 2021.
Its total profit for the period after taxation was £356.0m, increased from a £163.5m loss in 2021, as revenue soared to £3.6bn. up 730 per cent on 2021 to £429m.
Its chairman Philip Meeson said the “leisure travel business has continued its encouraging recovery following the reopening of international travel in early 2022. Strong customer demand, in particular for package holidays, plus a robust pricing environment and considered cost control, have underpinned a substantially improved financial performance compared to recent Covid impacted summer seasons, but also against pre-Covid Summer 2019.”
Looking ahead to the winter with the cost of living crisis eating into people’s earnings, he said bookings for the festive season are “encouraging”.
He said while “ recognising that the important post-Christmas booking period is still to come, we are presently on track to exceed current average market expectations”.
It did however warn about “input cost pressures” and investment “to ensure our Colleagues can thrive and have a balanced lifestyle”, which means the company’s “margins may come under some pressure.”
While revenue and profits boomed, Jet2 admitted that its “operations were directly impacted by the broader disruption” in the industry, which led to “significant delay and compensation costs in excess of £50.0m.”
Despite these pressures, seat capacity was up 14 per cent on the pre-Covid summer of 2019.