London, March 12, 2026, 19:17 GMT
easyJet dropped hard Thursday, closing near 380 pence after slipping to a fresh 52-week low in the session. Shares lost 4.23% for the day, touching an intraday bottom at 378.3 pence.
Oil’s fresh climb rattled airline stocks, reigniting jitters over fuel expenses. That’s no small worry—fuel ranks among the biggest line items for carriers. And this surge is hitting just as the industry counts on spring and summer travelers to turn a profit. Brent crude was back up near $100 per barrel Thursday. Jet fuel? Before the Middle East conflict, it traded around $85 to $90; now Reuters says prices are running between $150 and $200.
easyJet isn’t flying blind. Back in its January update, the airline said it had already hedged 84% of jet fuel for the first half of 2026, and 62% for the second. Load factor—how full the planes get—ticked up to 90% during the quarter. easyJet Holidays chipped in too, delivering a headline pretax profit of 50 million pounds.
In January, Chief Executive Kenton Jarvis pointed to summer demand picking up, following what easyJet called “record levels in both volume and revenue” through the January rush. The airline stuck to its 2026 forecast despite a deeper operating loss in the first quarter. Reuters
That hasn’t eased broader market nerves. “The longer the disruption goes on, the greater the impact on energy prices and global inflation,” said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, after UK equities posted their second consecutive daily decline and investors reconsidered the Bank of England’s rate outlook. Reuters
Still, hedging just delays the pain if high prices stick around. Jet fuel prices have shot up, doubling since the Iran conflict began—much faster than crude, according to Reuters. Nathan Gee, who leads Asia Pacific transportation research at Bank of America, put it bluntly: low-cost carriers serving the most price-sensitive flyers “get squeezed the most in this environment.” Reuters
Rivals haven’t waited to respond. Air France-KLM on Thursday announced a 50-euro hike on long-haul economy tickets, citing rising jet-fuel prices. That puts it in line with SAS, Qantas and others now signaling that travelers will pick up more of the tab for the fuel surge.
easyJet’s most recent annual report landed with a headline operating profit of 703 million pounds for the year ending September 2025—topping analyst estimates. The company is also aiming for easyJet Holidays to hit 450 million pounds in medium-term pretax earnings by 2030. The next set of numbers arrives May 21, with first-half results due.
