Higher fares and a surge in passenger numbers sends summer profits at easyJet soaring to between £650m and £670m. Tony McDonough reports

Low cost airline easyJet is to buy 157 new aircraft from Airbus after reporting a surge in quarterly pre-tax profits.

In July, August and September, its peak period, easyJet saw an 8% rise in passengers compared to the same period last year and a 9% rise in fares. Profits for the quarter are expected to be between £650m and £750m.

As a result easyJet has raised its full-year forecast, for the 12 months to September 30, to £440m to £460m. This is a welcome return to financial health for the business after losing more than £2bn during the pandemic.

In June the carrier announced two new routes out of Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Hurghada in Egypt and Lyon in France. It now operates to more than 25 destinations from Liverpool.

In a trading update to the stock exchange on Thursday morning easyJet also revealed it was planning to purchase 157 new planes from Airbus. It already had 69 A320neo aircraft and an order of 158 of the same model still to be delivered.

This latest order will see the delivery of 56 A320neo and 101 A321neo planes between 2029 and 2034. All the wings for these aircraft will be made at the giant Airbus plant at Broughton in Deeside.

Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, said: “We have delivered a record summer with strong demand for easyJet’s flights and holidays.

READ MORE: Liverpool Airport voted ‘best in UK’ by travellers

“This performance has demonstrated that our strategy is achieving results and so today we have set out an ambitious roadmap to serve more customers and deliver attractive shareholder returns.

“Our new medium-term targets provide the building blocks to deliver a profit before tax greater than £1bn.

“This will be driven by reducing winter losses, upgrading our fleet and growing easyJet holidays. As part of our commitment to shareholder returns, the board intends to reinstate dividends commencing with the FY23 results.”