Wildfires and floods in Greece dent Jet2 profits

Travel company Jet2 took a financial hit this summer due to traffic chaos caused by wildfires and flooding on Greek islands, in an illustration of the potential risk climate change poses to businesses.

However, the business still saw a major jump in profit overall, which it attributed in part to the higher amount it could make per customer.

It was a combination of disruption to the National Air Traffic Services (Nats) and wildfires on Rhodes in Skiathos that caused the damage, with Jet2 losing around £14m of profit as a result.

While wildfires can be ignited by natural causes or humans, climate change is fuelling the hot and dry conditions that allow them to spread more easily, according to World Weather Attribution group of climate scientists.

Likewise, a warmer atmosphere is thirstier, and holds more water, which can lead to more flooding.

“We are pleased to have delivered another strong financial performance during the first half of the financial year, despite the well-publicised external challenges faced,” said chief executive Steve Heapy.

He added: “We remain confident that as a customer-focused and much-trusted holiday provider, our customers will continue to travel with us to the sun spots of the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands and to European leisure cities.”

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Indeed Jet2 said profits were still on the up overall, as the average price of one of its holiday packages rose 11% to £855 in the six months to the end of September.

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That helped its pre-tax profit rise from £451m to £661m in the six-month period, Jet2 said.

Rachel Solomon Williams, executive director at the Aldersgate Group, an alliance of businesses pushing for sustainability, said: “As the impacts of climate change become increasingly severe, disruption to businesses and economic damage will continue to worsen.”

This could be extreme weather disrupting schedules, or temperatures at popular destinations soaring too high, or increased insurance costs, she said.

But there is “growing risk across the whole economy, from the built environment to transport, energy, food production and finance”, she said.

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Climate action will help stave off economic losses from further business disruption, she added.

For now, Jet2 customers do not seem to have been deterred from travelling next summer.

It has made more seats available, and bookings for the summer ahead are slightly higher than they were at this point a year ago.

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