Easyjet has revealed that even more flights are set to be cancelled this summer - adding to the misery of travellers. It follows announcements from Gatwick and Amsterdam’s Schiphol airports that they will cap flight and passenger numbers this summer.
EasyJet said there will also be cancellations from other airports across the airline’s network. The airline explained it is “proactively consolidating a number of flights” at airports affected by “operational issues”, such as London Gatwick and Amsterdam’s Schiphol.
The airline expects its capacity between April and June to be 87% of 2019 levels, rising to 90% during the following three months. Easyjet previously expected to run about 97% of pre-Covid flights between July and September but that is now being scaled back.
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The airline does operate limited services out of Newcastle Airport - and travellers from the North East also travel to others including Edinburgh - and flights from there to Amsterdam are already known to be impacted - with more disruption expected.
EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said he could not provide a figure for the number or proportion of flights that will be cancelled as "we need to work this through". He told reporters: "I can't tell you how many flights will be impacted." He added: "It would be misleading for me to give any numbers today because we simply don't know."
Mr Lundgren said: "The actions we're taking, we do need to make sure that we can continue to operate a stable programme for the remainder of the summer. The overwhelming vast majority of people would not be affected by what we are announcing today. We believe it's the right measure to take."
Easyjet stated there will be a “cost impact” from disruption and the amount of money it spends to operate each seat per kilometre excluding fuel will “exceed” previous guidance. It added: “We believe that these capacity/cost impacts are a one-off this summer as we would expect all parties to build greater resilience in time for 2023 peak periods.”
Gatwick announced last week that it will be reducing the number of daily flights during July and August to help tackle staffing issues.
A limit on flights has also been introduced by Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.
EasyJet said: “In response to these caps and in order to build additional resilience, easyJet is proactively consolidating a number of flights across affected airports. This provides customers with advance notice and the potential to rebook on to alternative flights.”
The airline said it expects to be able to rebook “the majority” of passengers on to other departures, with “many being on the same day”. Chief secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke has denied that post-Brexit immigration policy is to blame for the chaos at airports.
Asked about airline bosses’ assertions that an inflexible post-Brexit labour market is to blame, Mr Clarke told Kay Burley on Sky News: “I do not accept that this is simply a direct effect from Brexit.” He pointed to an “industry which massively slimmed down” during the pandemic and now is not “resourced and manned” to meet the pent-up demand.
He added: “It’s now massively expanded its operations and the pressure is enormous, and it hasn’t managed to align the two. We will do our part as a Government to make sure our side of things is right, from issues like passports to border control. The airlines need to do their part of things”.
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