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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
World
Sophie McCoid

easyJet issues flight update as travel restrictions ease

easyJet is set to increase flights to amber countries following the easing of travel restrictions and rising demand.

The airline said it expects to fly around 60% of its pre-pandemic flight programme over the summer quarter, up from 17% in the previous three months.

It said the reopening of travel in continental Europe and easing of restrictions for the fully vaccinated in the UK will drive a boost in demand in the next period to September 30.

READ MORE: US tourists warned not to travel to UK over rising cases

The budget airline is boosting flights to 74 countries on the amber list, such as Spain, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus, after the Government announced on July 8 that fully vaccinated passengers will be able to fly back from these countries without quarantine.

It is also heavily focusing its schedule on continental European routes, with Europe having reopened its travel faster than the UK.

easyJet said that, as a result, two-thirds of its bookings are now coming from Europe, compared with the usual 50-50 split.

easyJet's trading update for the three months to June 30 showed it narrowed headline pre-tax losses by 8.2% to £318.3 million, which was in line with its expectations, as cost-cutting helped limit the ongoing hit from the pandemic.

It saw passenger numbers rise to three million in the three months to June 30 against a lockdown-hit third quarter a year earlier, when its fleet had been grounded for all but two weeks, flying just 117,000 seats.

Chief executive Johan Lundgren said: "During this quarter we have successfully managed through the continued challenges of the pandemic, using our operational responsiveness to capture demand while focusing on cost control and minimising cash burn.

"So, while we know the road to recovery from the pandemic isn't going to be a straight line, we are ready to compete using these new-found strengths with everything we have learned, leaving a long-term, positive imprint on the airline, transformed ready for the post-pandemic era."

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