More than half of easyJet passengers have accepted vouchers or rebooked rather than seek refunds for cancelled flights since the onset of travel restrictions
EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren declined to say how much the carrier had paid out in customer refunds, or how much had been repaid to travel agents to pass on to clients.
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But he said: “We want to give customers options. We are one of the few airlines in Europe processing refunds, [but] there is a longer waiting time than normal because of the numbers.”
The airline’s entire fleet has been grounded since the end of March, with large numbers of staff on furlough.
In a trading update issued alongside half-year results, easyJet said: “We are providing customers with the options of changing their flights (with no change fee), receiving a voucher or a refund.”
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It reported: “Since we introduced the online voucher option, more than half of disrupted passengers have chosen vouchers or alternative flights.”
Asked about the level of demand, Lundgren said: “We are taking bookings from the end of May. Of course, bookings are down at this stage. But winter 2020-21 sales are up significantly versus this time last year and bookings are coming in for the summer.
“We are not disclosing the proportion of re-bookings and new bookings. But there is demand to start flying and we are quite positive about the bookings we have seen for winter.”
In its trading update, easyJet noted: “Our winter 20/21 seats were released earlier than usual to allow customers to plan ahead.
“Bookings for winter are well ahead of the equivalent point last year – this includes customers rebooking disrupted flights for later dates.”