Easyjet

PA

Budget airline Easyjet says it has been hit financially by drone activity at Gatwick Airport over the Christmas holiday period.

As well as a £5m cost associated with cancelled flights and lost revenue resulting from the drone issue, the firm also had to fork out £10m in customer welfare costs.

Otherwise, the carrier said that first quarter had seen "robust customer demand driving passenger and ancillary revenue which is in line with expectations".

Johan Lundgren, easyJet chief executive said: "This was underpinned by good operating and on-time performance across the network, with the exception of the disruption caused by the Gatwick closures due to drone sightings. There has been be a one-off cost impact from this incident, but underlying cost progress is in line with expectations."

The FTSE 100 is keeping its head above water, helped by oil majors and consumer goods stocks. The blue chip index is up 0.25% at 6,985.7 points.

Airlines are in favour. British Airways-owner IAG and Easyjet are up more than 1.5% after a positive research note on European airlines by analysts at Davy. FTSE 250 airline Wizz Air is up 4%.

Kingfisher is the heaviest faller on the FTSE 100, down 3.4% after RBC cut its rating on the DIY retailer to "underperform".

In addition to the Ryanair profit warning, analysts are less enthusiastic about Easyjet.

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EasyJet, the biggest operator of flights from Gatwick Airport, has issued a statement warning people who are travelling tomorrow that there might still be disruption.

"At this stage there is no indication of when the airport might re-open and as a result we have cancelled all flights due to operate to or from London Gatwick today," said Easy Jet.

“We expect disruption to continue into tomorrow and so advise all customers flying to and from London Gatwick tomorrow to check the status of their flight on our Flight Tracker or via the app.

"Customers on cancelled flights, will be entitled to a free of charge transfer to an alternative flight and hotel accommodation if required. We will also reimburse any reasonable expenses incurred by passengers who arrange their own comparable alternative transport.

“Whilst the situation is outside of our control, we recognise how frustrating this is for everyone involved and would like to apologise to passengers for the disruption to their travel plans.

“The safety of its passengers and crew remains our highest priority.”