EasyJet reported a steep 70% drop in its adjusted pre-tax profit for the third quarter of its 2026 financial year, falling to £85 million from £286 million in the same period last year. This substantial decline was primarily attributed to a significant increase in fuel costs and a slowdown in demand caused by the geopolitical escalation in the Middle East, particularly impacting bookings during the spring months. The unit cost of fuel alone jumped by 13%, leading to an absolute increase of £105 million compared to the third quarter of 2025, with fuel prices peaking at around $1,800 per metric tonne in April for unhedged consumption.
Despite the challenging environment, EasyJet's group revenue managed a modest 2% increase to £2.98 billion, with passenger numbers at 25.8 million. However, revenue per available seat kilometre (RASK) fell by 3%, and the load factor decreased by 1.3 percentage points to 88.9%. CEO Kenton Jarvis acknowledged the ongoing impact of the Middle East conflict on fuel prices and booking trends, noting that competitive pricing had driven strong last-minute booking demand for both flights and holiday packages.
The company's package holiday business, EasyJet holidays, proved to be a source of stability. It reported a pre-tax profit of £84 million, only a slight decrease from £86 million the previous year. Excluding exchange rate impacts, the operating profit for the holidays division rose by 7%, and its customer base grew by 8%. For the full financial year, management anticipates low double-digit customer growth for the holidays segment, projecting to gain market share. EasyJet plans disciplined capacity growth of about 3% in seats for the full financial year 2026 and expects continued improvement in booking trends and operational efficiencies to support profitability as market conditions normalize.
