Finance
EasyJet confident on summer demand as bookings build
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 22, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 22, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
EasyJet reports strong summer demand with bookings ahead of last year, boosting confidence in meeting profit forecasts despite economic concerns.
By Sarah Young
LONDON (Reuters) -British airline easyJet said on Thursday it was seeing strong demand for flights and holidays, and current summer bookings were tracking ahead of last year, giving it confidence in meeting annual profit forecasts.
EasyJet is the latest European airline to provide reassurance that consumer demand for travel remains strong despite worries over economic headwinds from U.S. tariffs. Also, airlines' costs this year are expected to benefit from lower oil prices.
For the all-important summer season, easyJet said it was seeing a "positive build" in demand for both its flights and its fast-growing package holiday business.
EasyJet chief executive Kenton Jarvis said there was no evidence of any impact on demand from anti-tourism protests in Spain.
"We're very focused on another record summer this year," Jarvis told reporters.
Local people, angry at soaring housing costs and overburdened services, have over the last year protested against mass tourism in popular holiday destinations such as Spain's Canary Islands and Balearic Islands, including spraying visitors with water pistols in Barcelona.
Jarvis, formerly CFO who took over as CEO in January, said while protests were not affecting bookings and Spanish destinations remained popular, the airline was adding capacity in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.
EasyJet shares were down 2% in early trading, but are still up 30% from eight-month lows in early April.
EasyJet's positive outlook chimes with bigger competitor airline Ryanair, which on Monday reported strong demand, with summer bookings running 1% ahead of last year.
In contrast, Europe's largest travel operator TUI flagged a 1% drop in summer bookings earlier in May, highlighting uncertainty in Germany, its biggest market.
EasyJet, whose biggest market is Britain, also said its package holiday business was performing well.
For the six months to end-March, its quieter off-season, easyJet reported a pretax loss of 394 million pounds ($529 million), in line with expectations. It said it was on track to meet forecasts for 703 million pounds in pretax profit this year and its medium-term target of 1 billion pounds.
($1 = 0.7449 pounds)
(Reporting by Sarah Young, editing by Paul Sandle and Jane Merriman)
EasyJet is experiencing strong demand for flights and holidays, with current summer bookings tracking ahead of last year, which gives the airline confidence in achieving another record summer.
EasyJet's CEO, Kenton Jarvis, stated that there is no evidence of any impact on demand from the anti-tourism protests in Spain, and Spanish destinations remain popular.
For the six months ending in March, EasyJet reported a pretax loss of £394 million, which was in line with expectations, but it remains on track to meet forecasts for the upcoming summer season.
EasyJet's positive outlook aligns with Ryanair, which reported summer bookings running 1% ahead of last year, while TUI noted a 1% drop in summer bookings, indicating uncertainty in its biggest market, Germany.
EasyJet is adding capacity in Morocco, Tunisia, and other destinations to meet the growing demand, despite the challenges posed by protests in popular tourist areas.
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