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Overview National Express Group PLC ( " National Express " or " the Group " ) today reports its Trading Update for the period 1 July 2021 to 30 September 2021 ( " Q3 " or " the period " ) . ● ● ● ● National Express Group PLC Trading Update 14 October 2021 national express Sequential improvement in performance continued in Q3 with revenue up to 83 % on the same period in 2019 on a constant currency basis ( vs. 76 % in Q2 ) . Mitigating rising input costs : Payroll and fuel account for 70 % of our cost base ; fuel is fully hedged through 2022 and into 2023 ; and wage settlements have been agreed across the business . ● Continue to successfully mitigate the financial impact of ongoing driver shortages , an industry wide challenge , through our operational agility , cost control and , in North America , the recent Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services ( “ CERTS ” ) funding . Ignacio Garat , Group Chief Executive , said : " Due to the tremendous efforts of our colleagues across the Group coupled with the support and cooperation of our customers across all of our markets , the trend of improving performance has continued through the third quarter . I am particularly grateful for the efforts of our colleagues in mitigating the industry - wide challenges of driver availability . This is particularly the case in our North American School Bus business and our team there has worked tirelessly to deliver results in line with our expectations despite this . ● Anticipate underlying profit before tax for 2021 to be in line with expectations . Retain significant liquidity and strong free cash flow ; expect to close 2021 with around £ 0.8 billion in cash and undrawn committed facilities . I am pleased to say that our ongoing focus on cost management along with our long - established procurement and fuel hedging programmes mean that we have seen no material impact from input cost inflation . Divisional operating highlights ● The Group has now signed its first bus “ availability " agreement in the UK , enabling it to utilise zero emission vehicles without capital outlay . We continue to focus on profitable growth with a strong pipeline of opportunities across the Group and recent contract wins in Spain and the UK . We have completed our business review and I look forward to communicating the exciting path ahead for the Group at our forthcoming Capital Markets Day . " ALSA The recovery in passengers and revenue continued , with revenue at nearly 90 % of 2019 levels in the period ; around half of ALSA revenue is protected , predominantly in our Spanish urban bus and regional bus contracts . Currently , Long Haul passengers have recovered to over 65 % of pre - Covid levels , from 45 % at the end of June . We are now operating 70 % of services ( up from 55 % in June ) . Regional and Urban bus in Spain are operating 100 % of services with patronage around 80 % of pre - Covid levels ( from c.65 % at the end of June ) . Collective wage agreements have been concluded in Spain at around a 2 % increase for 2021 and 3 % for 2022 , in line with our expectations . In Morocco , we continue to see strong growth in revenue versus 2020 ( up 34 % ) and passengers ( up 33 % ) , driven in part by the ongoing mobilisation of Casablanca . We expect Casablanca to be fully mobilised , on time and on budget , by the end of October .