EasyJet CEO notes slow recovery for travel to Cyprus as demands shifts westwards

Britain’s easyJet warned of a bigger ​first-half loss on Thursday and said bookings were lagging last year’s as a result of the Iran war, with some investors concerned the ‌budget airline might need to revise its outlook for the financial year.

EasyJet’s rival Wizz Air has already said its annual net profit will take a 50 million euro hit, while Lufthansa announced it was withdrawing 27 CityLine aircraft from service due to rising fuel costs.

With European airlines set to start reporting first-quarter results in the coming weeks, analysts warn that further capacity ​cuts are likely, with markets watching for clues of the extent of the war’s impact on fragile profit margins and revenue.

“The conflict in ​the Middle East has introduced near-term uncertainty around fuel costs and customer demand. As expected, the booking curve has shortened ⁠in recent weeks, resulting in lower than normal forward visibility,” easyJet said.

Shares in easyJet fell by as much as 9 per cent, while competitors Ryanair and Wizz Air ​also slipped.

Analysts and investors warned that they expected easyJet might need to further revise its forecast for the financial year, although the strength of its holidays ​business and balance sheet might help shield the airline from the ongoing turmoil.

“We expect forecast to come back for FY26,” said Dudley Shanley, head of aviation at Goodbody, adding that slower bookings and yield are feeding into investor scepticism.

LATER BOOKINGS, MORE DOMESTIC TRAVEL

The Iran war has sent jet fuel prices soaring, upending the global aviation industry and forcing airlines to raise fares, curb ​growth plans and rethink forecasts.

EasyJet CEO Kenton Jarvis said on a media call that travellers are booking closer to travel dates and there had been ​an initial shift to more domestic, city destination travel.

“It’s a later booking window we’re really seeing. And if there is any shift, it’s a little bit away from the eastern ‌Mediterranean, a ⁠little bit towards the Western Mediterranean,” Jarvis said, adding that travel to Cyprus, Egypt and Turkey, however, was slowly recovering.

EasyJet forecast a headline pre-tax loss of 540 million to 560 million pounds ($733 million to $761 million) for the first half, including 25 million pounds in extra fuel costs in March and 30 million pounds in expenses from higher legal provisions.

It reported a loss of 394 million pounds a year earlier.

SUMMER FUEL HEDGED

The airline said its summer bookings were below 2025’s, with ​third-quarter bookings 63 per cent sold compared with ​65 per cent last year.

Bookings for the July-to-September ⁠fourth quarter were 30 per cent sold, Jarvis said, adding that load factors, the portion of available seats filled by paying customers, were uncertain.

“That will very much depend on what the late-summer market is like, and obviously what happens to the ​conflict in the next week or two,” he said.

EasyJet had already warned the Iran war would push up ticket prices ​towards the end of ⁠the summer and had impacted bookings.

The airline said it was well hedged against fuel volatility, with 70 per cent of summer fuel locked in at $706 per metric ton. The hedges will start unwinding towards the end of the summer, however, potentially pushing higher costs through to fares.

“Pricing is protected in the short term. But clearly, if fuel remains ⁠high for ​longer, then that will feed in for the whole industry in terms of prices,” Jarvis told ​reporters.

The airline added that its 4.7 billion pounds of liquidity would help it navigate the challenging operating environment and continue working towards its medium-term targets.