LONDON (Reuters), Britain’s easyJet (LON) reported that it exceeded its expectations in the second half despite COVID-19 challenges and rising fuel prices. The company said capacity was increasing to reach 80% in March, and there has been a recovery of demand.

This low-cost airline, that has suffered from staff shortages in recent days, stated it flew 94% of its scheduled flight schedule within the previous seven days.

According to it, the British announcement of January’s end of travel restrictions in Britain had helped boost summer bookings.

Johan Lundgren, Chief Executive, stated that easyJet’s trading has experienced a robust recovery since travel restrictions were lifted. This has resulted in an optimistic outlook for Easter and beyond. Daily booking volumes for summer are currently ahead of the FY19 figures. 

“We are confident that we will reach 2019-level flying standards for this summer,” said the company. 

EasyJet reported that the group headline loss without tax is expected to be between 535 and 565 millions pounds ($696-735 Million) in the six-months ending March 2022.

($1 = 0.7689 pounds)