EasyJet orders 36 A320 family aircraft

The company said it’s exercising purchase rights for 36 new planes, including replacing 10 older aircraft as well as adding 26 additional Airbus A320 planes to boost capacity in Europe.

EASYJET’S chief executive does not expect any lasting impact on trading following the recent terror attacks in France and Egypt.

The chief executive of EasyJet has moved to quell fears that the tragic events in Paris will cause travellers to shun the French capital, and is still predicting growth in passenger numbers in 2016.

EasyJet revved up with its fifth straight year of record profits yesterday, while it said it believed the Paris terrorist attacks will have a minimal impact as “resilient” passengers will still want to travel.

Revenue rose 3.5% to £4.7 billion (6.5% up at constant currency), while expenses increased 1.1% to £3.7 billion, producing an operating profit of £688 million, up 18.4% from a £581 million in the prior year. The airline’s shares dipped 3.9 percent in the previous session, with the group’s pre-tax profit falling short of a few analyst estimates.

Easyjet preferred to concentrate on its record performance, announcing Tuesday that it had ordered 36 Airbus A320 jets worth 3.8 billion (3.5 billion euros) at catalogue prices. It is also more fuel efficient – which will reduce emissions and provide lower costs per seat which will help keep fares low. “Subsequently, EasyJet goes into 2016 confident that lower fuel costs, structural cost savings and increased capacity should be supportive of its expectations for the next financial year”.

Commenting on the performance, Hargreaves Lansdown equities head Richard Hunter, said: “EasyJet continues to cruise, with a set of results which show improvement in its numbers nearly without exception”.

All that means EasyJet is able to give something back to its shareholders, with a proposed 22 per cent increase in dividends, which will return £219m back in total.

EasyJet’s load factor, a measure of seats sold, was 91.5% in the financial year just ended. “We will see passenger growth of 7 percent a year”.

She added: “We continue to invest in profitable growth, ensuring our digital advantage and giving our customer good value fares”.