easyJet plc
(‘easyJet’)
easyJet Trading Update for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 (Q3’FY26)
Q3 Headline PBT of £85 million impacted by the Middle East conflict, with the strong late booking profile continuing to be seen
Kenton Jarvis, easyJet’s CEO, said:
“We have continued to manage the impact of the Middle East conflict, and its effect on fuel prices and booking trends, during the quarter. Pricing has been attractive, driving strong late booking demand for our flights and holidays and our relentless focus on execution has delivered an excellent operational performance and even greater levels of customer satisfaction.
“As consumer confidence increases, we are seeing the load factor gap close for peak summer and an extension of the booking curve as customers continue to prioritise travel and take advantage of our great fares.
“As we move into the busy summer period, we are looking forward to welcoming our customers onboard and I would also like to thank our fantastic colleagues for working hard to give our customers the best possible travel experience.”
Overview
Financial performance in the third quarter of easyJet's 2026 financial year was impacted by elevated fuel prices and a reduction in consumer demand following the onset of the Middle East conflict in March and consumer concern about unrealised fuel supply issues.
Strong demand for late bookings in the month of departure was seen throughout the quarter, however this was insufficient to fully offset the weaker booking trends experienced following the conflict. Inflight retail, within ancillary revenue, continues to strengthen, with PBT per seat up 14% YoY in the quarter.
Operational performance continued to improve from a strong base, with year-to-date on-time performance of 78%, up 2 percentage points year-on-year. Customer satisfaction also further increased to reach 84% for the airline, up 3 percentage points year-on-year, while easyJet holidays achieved 85%, an increase of 1 percentage point. Together, these improvements continue to strengthen the easyJet brand and support further customer loyalty and will drive bookings as demand normalises.
Non-fuel costs performed in line with expectations, with Q3 CASK ex fuel increasing by 3% year-on-year. This performance was stronger when removing the prior year credit from buying aircraft back. Fuel costs were a headwind, increasing by £105 million versus the prior year, primarily driven by higher fuel prices on the unhedged portion of consumption, with fuel prices peaking at approximately $1,800 per metric tonne in April.
easyJet holidays generated profit before tax of £84 million, compared to £86 million in Q3 FY25. Excluding foreign exchange movements, profit increased by 7%, demonstrating the resilience of its capital-light business model. Customer numbers continued to grow, increasing by 8% as the business gained market share in a competitive environment.
Strategic initiatives remain on track, with easyJet holidays signing an agreement with Expedia Group to expand its city hotel proposition ahead of the launch of flight plus hotel within the airline book flow. The business will also expand its distribution footprint through more than 500 high street retailers in Germany. Group preparations for the launch of our new loyalty proposition in FY27 remain on track, with significant further opportunities to enhance incremental revenue generation. Operational performance continues to strengthen, and easyJet remains focused on building on this momentum while also improving productivity across the business.
easyJet remains focused on its self-help strategic initiatives aimed at delivering medium-term margin and profit improvement. These actions are expected to support attractive shareholder returns as the business returns to a normalised operating environment.
Airline management board update
Having significantly improved easyJet's operational performance, David Morgan, Chief Operating Officer (COO), has chosen to retire from his current role and return to flying as an easyJet pilot. Sophie Dekkers, currently Chief Commercial Officer, will succeed David as COO, bringing nearly 20 years of experience at easyJet and deep expertise of our customers, network planning, scheduling, automation and data science. Sophie will oversee the next phase of operational development, driving productivity improvements while continuing to build on our strengthened operational performance and customer satisfaction levels.
Following an external search, Daniel Skjeldam will join easyJet as Chief Commercial Officer on 1 September. Daniel brings more than 25 years of commercial experience, including significant aviation experience at Norwegian Air Shuttle, and will provide fresh perspectives as we continue to execute our strategic priorities. His appointment comes at an exciting time for the business as we prepare to launch our new loyalty proposition and focus on driving incremental revenue opportunities through premiumisation and business travel, alongside the continued growth and optimisation of our network.
Outlook
The final outcome for FY26 remains dependent on the important remaining bookings, as well as fuel prices, which continue to be volatile.
| H1'26 | H2'26 | FY26 | |
| Seat capacity growth YoY | 4% | 2% | 3% |
| Av. sector length growth YoY | 4% | 3% | 3% |
| ASK capacity growth YoY | 8% | 5% | 6% |
Fuel & FX Hedging
| Jet Fuel | H1'27 | H2’27 | USD | H1'27 | H2’27 | |
| Hedged position | 62% | 37% | Hedged position | 63% | 39% | |
| Average hedged rate ($/MT) | 754 | 777 | Average hedged rate (USD/GBP) | 1.33 | 1.34 | |
| Current spot ($/MT) at 20.07.26 | 1,275 | Current spot (USD/GBP) at 20.07.26 | 1.34 | |||
Capacity
During Q3 easyJet flew 29.0 million seats. In the same period last year easyJet flew 28.7 million seats. Load factor was 88.9% (Q3 FY25: 90.2%).
Passenger numbers in the quarter were broadly flat at 25.8 million (Q3 FY25: 25.9 million).
April 2026 | May 2026 | June 2026 | Q3 FY26 | Q3 FY25 | Variance favourable/ (adverse) | |
| Number of flights | 50,278 | 54,260 | 55,173 | 159,711 | 159,065 | 0.4% |
| Passengers (thousand) | 8,087 | 8,767 | 8,917 | 25,771 | 25,883 | (0.4)% |
| Seats flown (thousand) | 9,114 | 9,848 | 10,022 | 28,984 | 28,694 | 1.0% |
| Load factor | 88.7% | 89.0% | 89.0% | 88.9% | 90.2% | (1.3)ppts |
Financial Summary
| Q3'26 | Q3'25 | Variance favourable/ (adverse) | |
| Passenger revenue (£’m) | 1,741 | 1,758 | (1)% |
| Airline ancillary revenue (£’m) | 753 | 732 | 3% |
| Holidays revenue2 (£’m) | 489 | 428 | 14% |
| Group revenue (£’m) | 2,983 | 2,918 | 2% |
| Fuel costs (£’m) | (732) | (627) | (17)% |
| Airline headline EBITDA costs ex fuel (£’m) | (1,537) | (1,453) | (6)% |
| Holidays EBITDA costs1,2 (£’m) | (410) | (347) | (18)% |
| Group headline EBITDA costs1 (£’m) | (2,679) | (2,427) | (10)% |
| Group headline EBITDA1 (£’m) | 304 | 491 | (38)% |
| Airline depreciation & amortisation (£’m) | (196) | (195) | (1)% |
| Holidays depreciation & amortisation2 (£’m) | (4) | (3) | (33)% |
| Group headline EBIT1 (£’m) | 104 | 293 | (65)% |
| Airline financing costs excluding balance sheet revaluations (£’m) | (19) | (15) | (13)% |
| Holidays financing costs (£’m) | 9 | 8 | 13% |
| Airline balance sheet revaluations (£’m) | (9) | 0 | - |
| Group headline PBT1 (£’m) | 85 | 286 | (70)% |
| Reported PBT (£’m) | 85 | 286 | (70)% |
| Airline passenger RASK (p) | 4.45 | 4.64 | (4)% |
| Airline ancillary RASK (p) | 1.92 | 1.93 | (1)% |
| Total airline RASK (p) | 6.37 | 6.57 | (3)% |
| Total airline revenue per seat (£) | 86.03 | 86.78 | (1)% |
| Airline headline CASK ex fuel (p) | (4.50) | (4.39) | (3)% |
| Airline fuel CASK (p) | (1.87) | (1.65) | (13)% |
| Airline total headline CASK (p) | (6.37) | (6.04) | (5)% |
| Airline total headline cost per seat (£) | (85.97) | (79.81) | (8)% |
| Sector length (km) | 1,350 | 1,320 | 2% |
| Available seat kilometres (ASK) (millions) | 39,137 | 37,890 | 3% |
| Cash and other cash investments (£’bn) | 3.6 | 3.7 | (3)% |
| Net cash/ (debt) (£’m) | 661 | 803 | (18)% |
For further details please contact easyJet plc:
Institutional investors and analysts:
Adrian Talbot Investor Relations +44 (0) 7971 592 373
Media:
Anna Knowles Corporate Communications +44 (0) 7985 873 313
Harry Cameron Teneo +44 (0) 20 7353 4200
Footnotes
1) We use a range of measures to monitor the financial performance of the Group. These measures include both statutory measures in accordance with IFRS and alternative performance measures (‘APMs’) which are consistent with the way that the business measures its performance. These measures are not defined under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), should be considered in addition to IFRS measurements, may differ to definitions given by regulatory bodies applicable to the Group and may differ to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. See a full glossary with definition of terms within the half year statement for six months ending 31 March 2026.
2) easyJet holidays numbers include elimination of intercompany airline transactions
The unaudited profit numbers (including EBITDA, EBIT and profit before tax (PBT)) for the Group, the Airline and/or easyJet Holidays for the third quarter of the financial year ending 30 September 2026 set out in this announcement constitute “profit estimates” under the UK City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the “Code”). In accordance with Rule 28.1 of the Code, the Board of easyJet confirms that each of the profit estimates has been properly compiled and that the basis of accounting used is consistent with the Company’s accounting policies. The profit estimates are not based on any assumptions.
This announcement may contain statements which constitute 'forward-looking statements'. Although easyJet believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct. Because these statements involve risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.