Holidays and flights company Jet2 has upgraded its profit guidance on the back of strong forward bookings for its winter breaks.
The Leeds Bradford Airport-based plc said that against a 20.5% increase in seat capacity, its winter 2023/24 bookings were up 17%, with pricing robust and customers increasingly choosing higher margin packages. Bosses noted a resurgence of city breaks during the period and said the leap year and early Easter would benefit group profit before foreign exchange revaluation and tax, which is now expected to be between £510m and £525m, up from between £480m and £520m.
And despite signs of a healthy summer 2024 with increased prices, caution was issued to investors on the London Stock Exchange as Jet2 said it was mindful of global instabilities, including macro-economic and geo-political activity, which it said could impact future consumer spending. The airline has 12.5% higher capacity for its summer routes with 17.2m seats and said forward bookings were encouraging.
Read more: Plant based food firm Myco lands £1.5m investment to begin burger production
Read more: Virgin Money agrees £20m buy out of abrdn joint venture
It comes as overheads increase for the firm, in the shape of hotel charges, changes to the EU Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme and its own investment in technology and staff. Five newly delivered A321neo aircraft from Airbus are now in service with six more due to arrive by the end of 2025.
At the end of March, Jet2 flights are due to start from the firm’s newest of 11 UK bases at Liverpool John Lennon Airport. The firm is offering 20 summer destinations from the airport, including the Canary Islands and Bulgaria, among seven routes.
Steve Heapy, chief executive officer, said: “We are pleased with how the 2024 financial year is ending and are encouraged by early bookings for Summer 2024. Whilst recognising that there are many demands on consumer discretionary incomes, we believe that our customers cherish their time away from our rainy island and want to be properly looked after throughout their holiday experience.
“As a customer focused and much trusted holiday provider, we remain confident they will continue to travel with us to the sun spots of the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands and to European leisure cities.”
Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber
