EasyJet CEO Optimistic About Early Summer Travel Demand
By Angelo Amante
ROME (Reuters) - Budget airline easyJet is seeing good momentum on bookings going into the summer season, its chief executive said on Tuesday, with the late timing of Easter this year having affected travel patterns.
CEO Kenton Jarvis said March had been a challenging month but that the outlook was brighter for the coming months for the London-listed company.
"As we move into the summer, the early signs of bookings are strong," Jarvis told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Rome, adding bookings for the current April-June quarter were ahead of last year.
"And for Q4, which is July to September for us, it's lesser by far for bookings, we're still under 30%, which is normal for this time of year," he added.
"So it's all to play for. But there's less capacity going into the summer compared with the winter across Europe."
Jarvis said easyJet was seeing interest in longer European flights and for destinations in north Africa, adding the budget carrier was well placed to mop up any reduced demand for transatlantic travel.
Virgin Atlantic, majority owned by Richard Branson, said on Monday demand for travel from the U.S. to Britain had slowed, echoing a warning from its part-owner Delta Air Lines over the impact of U.S. economic uncertainty.
Jarvis said he did not see any immediate impact on business from UK plans to charge Europeans for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), but added that he would have preferred the government not to impose the fee.
European travellers will from Wednesday need an ETA, which currently costs 10 pounds ($12.90). The fee will rise to 16 pounds from April 9.
($1 = 0.7747 pounds)
(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
