European low-cost carrier easyJet expects to operate around 1,000 flights per day this month. The airline has added further flights to its network in response to building demand that has recovered faster than expected.
Each airline saw a slightly different impact as a result of the current global situation. Some airlines were forced to curtail services. Meanwhile, others had to suspend services altogether, such as Latvia’s airBaltic. easyJet was in the latter camp, suspending services entirely from March 24th. The airline remained out of action for around a quarter of a year, returning a portion of its Airbus A320 family fleet to the skies on June 15th.
August’s increased European network
easyJet has now been back in the skies for around a month and a half. The European low-cost carrier, like airlines around the world, has been carefully watching how many tickets it has been selling on each flight it is offering.
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For an airline, one of the worst things it can do is increase capacity, but not seeing an increased passenger throughput in return. This means that airlines would be spending more money to operate flights, while not getting any more inbound cash in return.
Thankfully, it seems as though easyJet doesn’t need to worry about a lack of passengers. Indeed, the airline has seen better passenger loads in the past month and a half than it had been expecting. This has led to its desire to increase its schedule further for August.
210 easyJet aircraft back flying
According to the Guardian, easyJet had previously said in its first-half results that it expected to operate around 30% of its pre-crisis schedule. However, due to the increase in demand witnessed by the airline, this will more likely sit at 40% for the third quarter.
According to the Guardian, the all-Airbus low-cost operator will operate 210 aircraft during August. According to Planespotters.net, the airline has a fleet of 340 aircraft consisting of the A319, A320, and A321, with some aircraft from the neo aircraft series. As such, just over three-fifths of the airline’s fleet will be flying.
One of the biggest threats to the recovery of the European aviation industry would be a second wave of COVID-19 on the continent. Fears were already sparked after the United Kingdom, and Germany both placed Spain (or parts of the country) on its high-risk list.
easyJet hasn’t seen significant cancellations due to the UK’s Spanish quarantine, although new bookings have taken a hit. The airline’s CEO called on the UK’s government to work with airlines regarding such decisions. Additionally, he told the Guardian that “we urgently need to target quarantine requirements to where spikes have occurred rather than at a national level.” This is the approach taken by the German Robert Koch Institute, which has instead identified three Spanish regions as high risk.
Simple Flying has contacted easyJet for comment regarding this story.
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