EasyJet has relaunched its package holiday business in order to fill the gap left in the industry following the demise of Thomas Cook earlier this year.
The announcement by EasyJet to relaunch its package holiday business follows news that the carrier posted a 26% decline in pre-tax profits to £427 million for the year to September 30. Currently, EasyJet flies around 20 million people to Europe annually but only 500,000 book accommodation through it.
The airline's annual revenues surged by 8.3% to £6.4 million amidst increased capacity, but the company's total revenue per seat declined by 1.8% to £60.81 million due to "some weakness in consumer confidence". Meanwhile, the number of passengers for the year went up by 8.6% to 96.1 million.
EasyJet released a statement saying: "The total European package holidays market is worth around £61 billion per year. The UK alone is a £13 billion market and has grown by 6% annually."
"The way that customers are taking holidays is changing and we know customers want holidays with various durations and not the traditional seven and 14 nights. EasyJet is excited about the opportunity to build a major player in the holidays market for a low up-front investment and with limited risk," the airline added.
EasyJet also claimed that it would become the world's first major net zero carbon airline by offsetting carbon emissions.
In September, tour operator Thomas Cook entered compulsory liquidation after last-minute deals aimed at rescuing the company collapsed.
According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Thomas Cook has started compulsory liquidation and has "ceased trading with immediate effect". The collapse of the company left over 150,000 British holidaymakers stranded overseas.
Peter Fankhauser, chief executive officer of Thomas Cook, called the company’s collapse as a “matter of profound regret” and apologized to the firm’s “millions of customers, and thousands of employees” following the announcement of the compulsory liquidation. The company’s failure placed 22,000 employees at risk globally, including 9,000 in the UK.
