Jet2 loss £389m; chairman slams ‘atrocious’ airports

Shares of Leeds-based Jet2 fell about 13% on Thursday after it reported that its pretax loss widened to £388.8 million in the year to March 31, 2022, despite revenue increasing by 212% to £1.231 billion.

Jet2 said its net operating expenses increased by 113% to £1.555 billion.

The results came as Jet2 executive chairman Philip Meeson slammed his industry’s failings in its attempts to recover from the pandemic.

“Broadly, most of our 10 UK base airports have been woefully ill-prepared and poorly resourced for the volume of customers they could reasonably expect, as have other suppliers, such as onboard caterers and providers of Airport PRM (Passengers with Reduced Mobility) services,” said Meeson.

“Inexcusable, bearing in mind our flights have been on sale for many months and our load factors are quite normal.  

“Theirs and the ground handling suppliers’ often atrocious customer service, long queues for security search, lack of staff and congestion in baggage handling areas, and the consequent airport congestion, together with the frequent lack of onboard catering supplies, have each contributed to a very much poorer experience at the start and finish of our customers’ holidays than they were entitled to expect.

“Inevitably, these customer-facing challenges have put extra pressure on our colleagues, both in the UK, onboard our aircraft and in our holiday destinations.

“This difficult return to normal operations has occurred simply because of the lack of planning, preparedness and unwillingness to invest by many airports and associated suppliers.”