easyJet reported a headline loss before tax of £93 million for the quarter ended 31 December 2025, compared with a £61 million loss a year earlier, as start-up costs from new Italian bases and investment in operational resilience outweighed revenue growth.
Group revenue rose 11% year-on-year to £2.26 billion, driven by a 7% increase in passenger numbers and a 2 percentage point improvement in load factor to 90%. Available seat kilometres increased 9%, while total airline RASK was flat year-on-year at 5.93p, reflecting continued competitive pricing conditions. Total headline airline CASK rose 2%, with higher airport charges, wage inflation and environmental costs partly offset by efficiency gains and lower fuel costs.
Operational performance improved, with on-time performance up 4 percentage points to 77% and airline customer satisfaction rising to 83%.
easyJet holidays continued to outperform, delivering £50 million of headline profit before tax in the quarter, with customer numbers up 20% year-on-year and revenue rising 26% to £311 million. The business is 97% sold for H1 FY26 and 47% sold for H2, with average selling prices up high single digits. Robinhood UK lead analyst Dan Lane said the holidays business is “starting to reveal its potential” but noted that rising costs are limiting the upside from volume growth.
For FY26, easyJet expects ASK capacity growth of around 7%, with seat growth of 3%, reflecting longer sector lengths and disciplined deployment of aircraft. The group said material upgauging benefits are expected in FY27 and FY28 as A319 retirements accelerate and aircraft deliveries ramp up, pointing to rising near-term capital expenditure as fleet renewal progresses.
Total headline CASK for FY26 is expected to see modest inflation, with unit cost pressure weighted towards the first half due to the annualisation of resilience measures, airport rate increases and continued investment in e-commerce, before easing as fleet upgauging feeds into unit costs.
Net debt improved to £106 million, from £484 million a year earlier, while cash and cash equivalents remained stable at £2.8 billion. Airline financing costs increased to £22 million from £19 million.
Fuel hedging remains substantial, with 84% of H1 FY26 fuel hedged at an average price of $715 per tonne, and 80% of US dollar exposure hedged at 1.30.
Forward bookings continue to build, with Q2 airline capacity 63% sold and easyJet holidays reporting record January bookings. Chief executive Kenton Jarvis said the group remained on track towards its medium-term goal of generating over £1 billion in annual profit before tax, supported by strategic route investments and continued growth in easyJet holidays. Peel Hunt said the higher loss reflected “investment in resilience and start-up losses for the new bases in Italy”, but added that load factor and punctuality improvements were encouraging and left its forecasts unchanged.