Jet2 slams 'inexcusable' chaos at UK airports as FY losses widen

Jet2 posted a widening of its full-year losses on Thursday as it blasted the "inexcusable" chaos seen at UK airports recently and said its performance for this year will depend on how quickly aviation services return to normal.

In its results for the year to the end of March, the travel group said pre-tax losses widened to £388.8m from £369.9m the year before.

Jet2 also said that its performance for the financial year ending 31 March 2023 very much depends on how quickly the broader aviation sector returns to some level of stability, as well as strength of bookings for the remainder of Summer and the second half of the financial year, a period for which it still has limited visibility.

The company slammed the performance of its 10 UK base Airports over recent months, saying they have been "woefully ill-prepared and poorly resourced" for the volume of customers they could reasonably expect.

"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," it said.

"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."