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Luton (dpa) - The low-cost airline Easyjet is navigating a harsh winter: In view of the corona restrictions, the airline will operate a maximum of ten percent of the actually possible flights from January to March.
The British airline announced on Thursday in Luton.
Easyjet remains flexible, however, in order to increase capacities at short notice, it said in a message.
Sales and passenger numbers plummeted in the first quarter of the new financial year (as of the end of December).
The airline is cutting jobs in order to save costs.
The stock fell further on Thursday.
Like that of other airlines, it had come under pressure in the past few days because the prospect of longer corona restrictions cannot currently be assessed when travel traffic will normalize.
On average, Easyjet failed to meet the analysts' expectations in terms of both revenue and passenger numbers.
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Due to the ongoing uncertainty, Easyjet does not trust itself with any concrete forecast for the current year apart from the number of flights in the second quarter.
In the first quarter, passenger numbers fell by 87 percent to 2.9 million compared to the same period last year.
Revenues decreased by 88 percent to 165 million pounds (187 million euros).
From Easyjet's point of view, the numbers turned out as expected.
The corona restrictions are the main reason for the low demand, said Easyjet boss Johan Lundgren.
The austerity program announced last year was on the right track, it was now said.
This also includes cutting jobs, which has largely already taken place.
According to Easyjet, 1,400 employees have already left the company in Great Britain.
In addition, the majority of the pilots stationed in Great Britain received seasonal contracts.
The corona pandemic has plunged many airlines into a deep crisis.
Easyjet ended the past financial year with an annual loss for the first time.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210128-99-207913 / 2