Easyjet travel update for UK tourists with Spain, Greece, Portugal holidays
Easyjet has issued a warning over air fares – saying they will rise by the end of the summer. Easyjet, which flies from Birmingham, has issued a warning amid the conflict in the Middle East.
The chief executive, Kenton Jarvis, said it was “unavoidable” that some of the costs would be passed on in fares. Easyjet warned flights booked for Turkey, Cyprus and Egypt are being hit by the biggest drop in bookings.
Instead, passengers have turned to the “usual suspects” of Spain, Greece and Portugal, which were “holding up pretty firmly”. He said: “We have seen a drop in bookings. If it’s the same as the Ukraine crisis or after the Hamas attacks on Israel, that tends to lasts about six weeks, until, terrible though it is, the news is off the front pages.”
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“Luckily most European airlines are extremely well hedged,” he said. “You can still get a price of $1,000 in six months – the view of the markets is that fuel comes down in price.
“But the reality is that prices will start feeding in to the consumer over the back end of summer.”
Easyjet boss Jarvis was speaking at Newcastle airport, where easyJet has reopened a base.
The region’s mayor, Kim McGuinness, said the airport was “not just where holidays begin”.
McGuinness went on to say: “Tourism is a key part of my growth plans for the region and why I’m pleased to welcome easyJet’s investment back into our region, and the strength in our region’s tourism that it represents.”
easyJet chief of comms, Sophie Dekkers, said: “If the train journey is two-and-a-half hours or less, we don’t operate a flight.”
Easyjet rival TUI said demand had risen sharply in recent days for holidays in Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cape Verde this summer as customers opted for “familiar, easy‑to‑reach locations”.
“While we are seeing some cancellations in the affected areas, these are currently outweighed by customers choosing to amend their plans instead,” Neil Swanson, a director at Tui, said.