the airline for business travel. Business passengers now account for over 9 million
annually (out of a total of around 50 million) i.e 18%. EasyJet paid £100m more
in fuel costs during the year, but said it managed to offset this through efficiency
savings.
15 November 2011 (BBC)
Easyjet said the profits rise came despite “the headwinds of higher fuel costs”
A boost in the number of its business and European travellers helped Easyjet
report increased profits for 2011.
The budget airline announced a pre-tax profit of £248m for the year to 30 September,
in line with expectations, up from a profit of £154m in 2010.
The improvement was led by a 11.8% increase in passenger numbers, with one million more people using the airline for business travel.
In September, Easyjet announced a £150m special dividend for shareholders.
The special dividend brings the total cash return to shareholders to £195m, or
45.4 pence per share, for the year.
Easyjet chief executive Carolyn McCall said the results were achieved, “despite
the headwinds of higher fuel costs and a weak and uncertain economic outlook”.
The airline saw a £100m increase in fuel costs during the year, but said it had
managed to offset this through efficiency savings.
Despite the downturn in the eurozone, forward bookings for the Christmas period
were in line with the previous year – with about 45% of seats now booked.
The airline also improved its punctuality with 79% of flights arriving within
15 minutes of their scheduled time, an improvement on the rate of 66% in 2010.
Easyjet has been in dispute with its founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, over
the airline’s expansions plans.
Sir Stelios and his family own 38% of the shares in Easyjet, but in September
he said was planning to set up a new airline called Fastjet.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15732969
and
easyJet set to attract more business travellers through renewed distribution deal with Amadeus
15.11.2011 (easyJet press release)
easyJet, the UK’s largest airline, has signed a new and enhanced deal with Amadeus,
a leading GDS supplier, which will help the airline capture a bigger share of
the managed corporate travel market.
Amadeus is a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for
the global travel and tourism industry. In 2007 easyJet was one of the first low
cost airlines to make its inventory available to business travel bookers through
the GDS providers. Almost four years on, this has now been extended. The agreement
also delivers significant technical improvements as Amadeus and easyJet will work
closely together to increase functionality and enhance the booking process for
all travel agents using Amadeus.
Catherine Lynn, Director of Customer and Revenues, at easyJet, commented: “easyJet
has made great gains in the European corporate travel market in recent years.
We carried one million more business travellers last year than the year before and they now account for over 9 million annually. [Total passengers on easyJet are around 50 million per year]
Now more agents and corporate travel buyers will be able book with us and the
improved functionality means it will also be easier for them to do so. This deal
recognises the important role that GDS systems and travel management companies
play in the corporate travel market and will enable us to capitalise on this in
order to gain a larger market share.”
David Doctor, Director, Distribution Marketing, Amadeus “We are delighted with
this new long-term agreement with easyJet and we look forward to enhancing our
Amadeus Ticketless Access product to make it even easier for all our travel agencies
to book easyJet flights.”
This announcement is the latest development in easyJet’s campaign to increase
the number of business travellers which currently stands at over 9 million a year
or 18% of easyJet’s passengers. Those travelling on business are attracted by
easyJet’s extensive route network, high frequencies to main city airports and
low-fares. The airline operates on more of Europe’s top 100 city pairs than any
other airline including British Airways, Lufthansa and Air France.
In recent months easyJet has announced the introduction of Flexi fares which
give passengers flexibility to change the date of their flights. The airline has
also put a corporate sales team in place who have established strong partnerships
with corporates and major travel management companies.
http://corporate.easyjet.com/media/latest-news/news-year-2011/15-11-2011a-en.aspx?sc_lang=en
.
.