EasyJet plans to remove seats from Airbus planes this summer, allowing the British airline to fly with fewer cabin crew members as it battles Covid absenteeism and staffing shortages.

The airline said over the weekend that it will reduce the number of passenger seats on its A319 jets from 156 to 150 during the forthcoming peak flying season.

This will allow it to fly with three cabin crew instead of four, under regulations imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority watchdog in Britain.

EasyJet said in a statement that its seat reduction “is an effective way of… building additional resilience and flexibility into our operation this summer”.

While the global aviation sector was ravaged by the coronavirus outbreak that grounded planes and slashed thousands of jobs, demand is recovering strongly after travel curbs were lifted.

This is turn has caused a rush for new staff.

EasyJet said only its UK fleet of A319 planes would be affected by the removal of seats.

This numbers 60 jets, or slightly half of its A319 fleet.

The announcement comes after EasyJet canceled a large number of flights over Easter as the sector faced a high level of absences owing to Covid.

Last month, the low-cost carrier forecasted that flight bookings will recover to pre-Covid levels this summer, resulting in a lower-than-expected loss.