Yahoo TV

EasyJet says it's ready to ramp up its summer flight schedules.

But the budget airline says late announcements of travel rules mean it's hard to make firm plans.

The company said Thursday (May 20) that it expects to operate about 15% of pre-crisis capacity in the current quarter.

It will then return furloughed crews for an anticipated summer surge.

EasyJet says it can quickly bring back up to 90% of its fleet if there is demand.

The outlook came as the carrier reported a widening loss.

EasyJet's pretax deficit jumped to $990 million over the six months to the end of March.

Revenue fell 90% as passenger numbers tumbled by a similar amount.

Underlining the summer doubts, the company would give no firm outlook for the coming quarter.

But Chief Executive Johan Lundgren says there is pent-up demand.

EasyJet saw bookings to Portugal surge after the UK lifted travel restrictions.

Its shares fell over 2.5% in early trade Thursday.