UK's Jet2 boosts fuel hedging after solid summer bookings

Sept 3 (Reuters) - Britain's third-largest airline Jet2 said on Thursday its summer bookings were up year on year and it was hedging more of its annual fuel requirements as the Middle East conflict drives up fuel costs for the global aviation industry.

Global airlines and holiday groups have been grappling with both disruptions in demand and higher energy costs, with several carriers hedging larger parts of their fuel requirements to safeguard their margins.

Even as cost pressures remain, Jet2 said summer bookings so far were higher than year-ago levels, showing a robust performance across its flights and package holidays businesses, backed by attractive pricing and investment in load factor.

Shares in the firm were up 3.7% at 1,511 pence in early trading.

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"We have been encouraged by the sustained level of demand for both our holiday products through the peak summer season which gives us confidence for the remainder of the financial year," CEO Steve Heapy said in a statement.

Jet2 said it was benefiting from its expanded operations at the UK's Gatwick Airport, with its winter months seat capacity 8% higher than a year ago.

The Leeds-headquartered firm, which currently trades on London's smallcap market, said it plans to list on the main market of the London Stock Exchange before the end of the financial year ending March 2027.

About 93% of Jet2's fuel requirement for the year is currently hedged at an average price of $753, the company said, compared with 90% at $743 as of July.

"Fuel prices have recently trended upwards, although we do not expect any significant downgrade to consensus fiscal 27 expectations, since Jet2 is well hedged and top-line trends are in-line or marginally ahead relative to Jet2's previous update," RBC Capital Markets analyst Ruairi Cullinane said.

Jet2 said its booked-to-date passengers were up 8.8% for summer 2026, above the 7.1% it reported in July. 

(Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Janane Venkatraman and Jan Harvey)