easyJet has released its trading statement for Q1 and it seems the airline is going from strength-to-strength. The statement reports a total revenue increase of over 14% and an 8% rise in passenger numbers. The airline has also completed its acquisition of part of Air Berlin’s assets at Tegel airport.
New chief executive, Johan Lundgren, commented: “easyJet delivered a strong start to the financial year with a significant growth in revenue in part driven by an increase in passengers flown and strong growth in in-flight and ancillary sales as we offer more and better quality options for our passengers.”
The airline has benefitted from the struggles of rival airlines over the past year. The collapse of Monarch, Air Berlin and Alitalia going into administration, and Ryanair’s scheduling nightmare means that some competition has been removed from many of easyJet’s routes.
Lundgren has also made some management changes since taking over from Carolyn McCall near the end of 2017. Robert Carey, strategy and network director, is to take on the responsibility of managing pricing and revenue and the chief commercial officer, Peter Duffy, has departed. A new role of chief data officer will take on the responsibility of utilising data to improve customer experience, reduce costs, and drive revenue.
Looking to the future, Lundgren commented: “My aim is to help easyJet go from strength to strength. Our customer proposition will continue to drive both passenger growth and loyalty. We have great revenue growth, strong cost control, a robust operation and a strong balance sheet.”
Goals for 2018 include implementing a full schedule at Berlin Tegel by the summer, increasing passenger numbers by 10 million, and expanding the ‘Worldwide by easyJet’ programme. The airline will also increase its fleet to over 300 aircraft in the spring.
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