Investors in one of the UK’s biggest package holiday firms will be hoping to hear whether US-Iran peace talks have helped buoy demand for travel and settle jet fuel supplies as summer bookings commence.
Jet2 will unveil its full-year financial results on Wednesday after a period of disruption for the travel industry.
The airline and package holiday provider told investors that it was expecting to report an operating profit of between £435 million and £440 million for the year to the end of March.
Passenger bookings for the summer were up in April, compared with the previous year, for both package holidays and flights, raising hopes among investors of a strong season ahead.
Jet2 revealed that holidaymakers were increasingly booking trips closer to the date of departure, in a sign that nervousness about the conflict in the Middle East was prompting travellers to book last-minute.
Russ Mould and Dan Coatsworth, analysts for AJ Bell, said investors will be hoping for an update on how demand for travel has fared since US President Donald Trump said he had signed a peace deal with Iran last month.
“Jet2’s commentary on current trading will be much more important than its full-year numbers to March 31,” they said.
“Reports suggest holiday companies have enjoyed a strong bounce in trading since Donald Trump said a peace deal had been agreed with Iran.
“We’ve already seen oil prices return to pre-Iran war levels and there are reports from various holiday companies of a surge in bookings to Cyprus and Turkey.”
Jet2 sells holidays to both destinations and across the Mediterranean.
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which severely constrained shipping since the outbreak of the Iran war, led to a reduction in the global supply of jet fuel, leading some airlines to cut schedules for summer travel.
But Jet2 moved to reassure customers in May that its flying schedule would be operating as normal over the summer and pledged to not introduce surcharges on any booked trips to cover the higher costs.
Meanwhile, the business launched its first flights from a new base in London Gatwick airport earlier this year, which it hopes will open up bookings to an additional 15 million potential customers.
