• EasyJet cuts flights during the summer
• EasyJet shares slide
• Strong booking momentum continues

EasyJet shares were down 3% on Monday after announcing its trading update for the summer. 

The carrier announced plans to cut more flights over the busy summer period, scrapping around 7% of the 160,000 flights it was expected to run between July and September.

The company said it will operate around 140,000 flights, carrying approximately 22 million passengers. EasyJet said this was a 550% increase from the same period in 2021. In addition, passengers in April and May were seven times higher than in the same month last year.

Not everything is taking off for the aviation industry.

Airlines have experienced constant operational issues across Europe. The challenges faced across the industry include staff shortages and traffic control delays causing delayed flights and flight cancellations. 

To handle these issues, EasyJet said they plan to provide customers with advance notice and the potential to rebook the majority of passengers onto alternative flights. 

Therefore, EasyJet is set to cut flights at some of its biggest airports as it struggles to maintain its promised schedule.

Not ideal for holiday-goers.

“Delivering a safe and reliable operation for our customers in this challenging environment is easyJet’s highest priority and we are sorry that for some customers we have not been able to deliver the service they have come to expect from us,” stated Johan Lundgren, EasyJet Chief Executive.

Meanwhile, strong booking momentum has continued for EasyJet, with demand for travel remaining healthy and Q3 tickets selling 86%.

Key Stats:

Overall Twitter mentions for EasyJet over the last few weeks jumped, as expected, due to the airline chaos. However, in what could be a sign of cancellations beginning to ease, mentions have dropped slightly in the last couple of weeks.