REG - Jet2 PLC - Trading Update

Jet2Announcement

08/04/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 7043H  Jet2 PLC  08 April 2022

8 April 2022

Jet2 plc ("the Group")

Trading Update

Jet2 plc, the Leisure Travel group ("the Group" or "the Company"), today
issues the following update on trading.

Year ended 31 March 2022 (FY22)

Passenger sectors flown and average load factors in October and November 2021
increased markedly following the dropping of the UK Government traffic light
system in early October 2021. However, the improving conditions were adversely
affected in December 2021 and January 2022 as a result of the new Omicron
Covid variant and the reimposition of international travel restrictions, both
of which served to dampen customer confidence.

Pleasingly, progressive relaxation of UK travel restrictions in early 2022 -
firstly, with the removal of pre-departure tests for vaccinated people
travelling to the UK; and subsequently no longer having to take a post-arrival
lateral flow test - resulted in bookings increasing materially with average
load factors for February and March 2022 approaching seasonal norms as
customer confidence in travelling internationally rallied.

As a result, the Board expects to report a Group loss before foreign exchange
revaluation and taxation for the year of between £378m and £383m. Total cash
at 31 March 2022 was £2.23bn with an 'Own Cash' balance (excluding customer
advance deposits) of £1.08bn.

Year ending 31 March 2023 (FY23)

On sale seat capacity for Summer 2022 is approximately 14% higher than Summer
2019 and bookings are encouraging. Package holiday customers are also
displaying a materially higher mix of the total at +12ppts.

Average load factors for the Summer 2022 season are currently 2.5ppts behind
Summer 2019 at the same point (against the 14% increase in seat capacity),
with booking momentum accelerating, customer confidence continuing to grow and
pricing robust, as customers treat themselves to their long anticipated and
well-deserved holidays.

We have worked hard to plan recovery for Summer 2022, investing well ahead of
the season to ensure we have adequate resources to operate with our normal
levels of customer care. We also self-handle at many of our key bases and are
therefore not reliant on third parties for these aspects of our operations.
Additionally, we are currently 95% hedged for jet fuel for Summer 2022 and
approximately 65% hedged for Winter 22/23 in line with our normal policy.

Separately, we recently exercised 6 of our purchase rights from our recently
announced new Airbus A321 neo aircraft order, meaning we now have 57 firm
orders with the flexibility to extend up to a total of 75 aircraft.

Jet2.com and Jet2holidays are well-recognised national brands with a loyal
leisure travel customer following and we confidently believe that
opportunities for financially strong, resilient and trusted operators will
only increase. With our strong 'Own Cash' balance as at 31 March 2022 of
£1.08bn, we are well placed to respond now that the leisure travel market has
fully re-opened.

The Group will announce its Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 March
2022 on 7 July 2022 at which point it will provide a fuller outlook for the
all-important Summer 2022 trading period.

 ( )For further information, please contact:

Jet2 plc                                   Tel:             0113 239 7692

 Philip Meeson, Executive Chairman
 Gary Brown, Group Chief Financial Officer

 Cenkos Securities plc                      Tel:             020 7397 8900

 Nominated Adviser

 Katy Birkin / Camilla Hume

 Canaccord Genuity Limited                  Tel:             020 7523 8000

 Adam James

 Jefferies International Limited            Tel:             020 7029 8000

 Ed Matthews

 Buchanan                                   Tel:             020 7466 5000

 Financial PR

 Richard Oldworth

 

 

 

 

 

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Regulation (2014/596) which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union
(Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended and supplemented from time to time, until
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