LONDON – Jet2 has branded UK airports as “atrocious” in its latest financial results after the travel chaos of Summer 2022 continues at a harsh rate.
Meeson Is Not Impressed…
Before we get into the financials, this is what Philip Meeson, the Executive Chairman of Jet2 had to say on the condition of UK airports:
“Before commencing the detailed Statement, I want to record the Board’s huge appreciation for all our Colleagues’ tremendous support and efforts over recent months, which have enabled Jet2.com and Jet2holidays to take our Customers on their holidays.”
“This has been achieved despite the currently very challenging airport, onboard, and in‐destination working environments, which have been exacerbated by many of our Suppliers’ failure to adequately plan and resource for the post– Covid operational start-up, as has been widely reported in the media.”
“Broadly, most of our 10 UK Base Airports have been woefully ill‐prepared and poorly resourced for the volume of customers they could reasonably expect, as have other suppliers, such as Onboard Caterers and providers of Airport PRM (Passengers with Reduced Mobility) services.”
“Inexcusable, bearing in mind our flights have been on sale for many months and our load factors are quite normal.”
“Theirs and the Ground Handling suppliers’ often atrocious customer service, long queues for Security Search, lack of Staff and congestion in Baggage Handling Areas, and the consequent airport congestion, together with the frequent lack of onboard catering supplies, have each contributed to a very much poorer experience at the start and finish of our Customers’ holidays than they were entitled to expect.”
“Inevitably, these customer‐facing challenges have put extra pressure on our Colleagues, both in the UK, onboard our aircraft, and at our holiday destinations.”
“This difficult return to normal operations has occurred simply because of the lack of planning, preparedness, and unwillingness to invest by many Airports and associated Suppliers.”
The Financials…
The carrier’s operating loss has been reduced by 4% to £323.9 million, of which the losses have been attributed to COVID-19 and the overall travel chaos too.
Load factors at the carrier have increased to 69.2%, which is up from 66.1% in 2021. Jet2’s total passenger count has increased to 4.85 million, which is up substantially from 1.32 million.
Another interesting statistic is that 35% of the airline’s bookings for Summer 2022 are from completely new customers, which has enabled the airline to open itself up more.
The airline is also remaining quite liquid, with this record at £2,228.5m which is better than 2021’s figure of £1,379.0m.
It remains clear that Jet2 is doing all it can, especially with the variables that they are facing at present.
With the airline remaining liquid, they can afford to take the losses for now, but this needs to be converted into profitability down the line.
Looking ahead, the airline’s performance does look set to improve dramatically, especially with a high percentage of new customers too. This will contribute to positive revenues, which may be reflected in the next financial report.
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