easyJet has seen profits fall by 26 per cent, to £427 million, for the year to September 30th.
However, the figure was at the top end of a guidance range of £420-430 million, with shares in the low-cost carrier up four per cent this morning.
Total revenue for the year increased by 8.3 per cent, to £6.4 billion, largely driven by an increase in capacity.
Total revenue per seat decreased by 1.8 per cent, to £61, driven by “some weakness” in consumer confidence.
easyJet added it had seen a “positive impact” from strikes at British Airways and Ryanair.
Johan Lundgren, easyJet chief executive, said: “easyJet finished the 2019 financial year with a strong performance across the business and a record summer.
“More customers than ever are coming to easyJet as their airline of choice, with a record 96.1 million customers flying with us this year.”
As environmental concerns continue to rise up the global agenda, easyJet said that from today it will make all flights net zero carbon.
Lundgren added: “We are doing this by offsetting the carbon emissions from the fuel used for all of our flights.
“We recognise that offsetting is only an interim measure, but we want to take action on our carbon emissions now.
“Our priority is to continue to work on reducing our carbon footprint in the short term, coupled with long-term work to support the development of new technology, including electric planes, to reinvent aviation for the long-term.”
Following the collapse of Thomas Cook, easyJet said it would also relaunch its holiday operations.
easyJet Holidays will launch in the UK before Christmas and will offer beach and city breaks, travelling across the carrier’s network.
Flexibility will play a key part in the new offering, easyJet said.
At present, roughly 20 million people fly with easyJet to Europe annually but only 500,000 book accommodation through the company – something the new move hopes to address.
Lundgren concluded: “We are now able to offer our customers more than 100 amazing beach and city holiday destinations, pairing Europe’s best short-haul flight network with more than 5,000 of Europe’s best hotels.
“We believe there is a gap in the market for a modern, relevant and flexible business for today’s consumer.”
