Easyjet Reports Sharp Drop in Year-on-Year Profits
Jackie Reddy November 15, 2016
CEO Carolyn McCall has praised the carrier’s resilience and believes that its business model will see it fare well in harsh operating environments. She also confirmed the airline’s post-Brexit plans.
Easyjet has confirmed that terror attacks in Europe and North Africa, air traffic control strikes in France and the fall of the pound sterling in the wake of Britain’s EU referendum have all had an impact on its pre-tax profits for 2016. Despite serving a record 73.1 million passengers in the year up to September 30, 2016, the carrier has reported that earnings during the same period fell by 27.9 percent to £495 ($397.4) million.
With load factor high, passenger demand, explained Easyjet CEO Carolyn McCall, isn’t the problem; rather, she confirmed in a statement that the carrier, which is based at London’s Luton Airport (LTN), had been buffeted by what she termed “external events and foreign exchange headwinds”.
Despite tough conditions, McCall praised the airline for its resilient performance and said that “Easyjet’s model remains strong as does the demand environment […] In a tougher operating environment strong airlines like Easyjet will get stronger and we will build on our already well-established network.”
Speaking of the carrier’s future plans, McCall added that, “Almost half of our growth next year will be in the UK, with significant growth also in Switzerland, France and Italy. Our strategy of strengthening our positions at our key airports will see double digit growth in key bases in London, Manchester, Venice, Berlin and Amsterdam.”
Commenting to the BBC on Tuesday, McCall confirmed that the airline was also preparing to protect and defend its operations ahead of Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU). To this end, she told the outlet that Easyjet is in the throes of setting up a Europe-based subsidiary to ensure that it can continue operating within the EU.
Though Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty has yet to be triggered, McCall told the outlet “We don’t have the luxury of waiting. But we have to take control of our own future.”
[Photo: Alamy]
