Launch of new routes means Easyjet is now Berlin’s largest airline
Easyjet has branded itself as Berlin’s “home airline” following the launch of its largest-ever summer schedule that will see eight new routes added from Tegel airport from this summer.
The low-cost airline is now Berlin’s largest with more than 16m seats flying over the year.
As part of its summer schedule it has added five new routes from Tegel Airport – which Berliners voted to keep open last year despite government ambitions to close it – to Aarhus, Alghero, Bari, Edinburgh, London Gatwick Olbia, Paris-Orly and Prague, in what the airline called a “milestone”.
The routes boost means Easyjet will operate more than 100 routes, and will also launch new flights to destinations such as Alicante, Biarritz, Corfu, Menorca and Pula, as well as Scandinavian cities such as Gothenburg and Oslo.
Easyjet has been one of the main beneficiaries of the collapse of Air Berlin last year, scooping up about 25 of its aircraft so far along with hordes of its staff. Easyjet CEO Johan Lundgren told reporters at a press conference in Berlin today that his airline had employed 140 people and a further 100 were in the pipeline.
“There has been the development of opportunities since 2004,” he said. “Up to 25 aircraft in Tegel is a fantastic foundation to stand on. When we move into the new airport we will continue to be the largest airline.”
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Berlin mayor Michael Muller thanked Easyjet for stepping in when Air Berlin came into “troubled waters”.
“It was a major concern what would happen to staff,” he said. “The fact that they have found a new home with EasyJet is a very important signal. We have a lot of expectations for 2018.”
It won’t all be plain sailing, however. Lundgren told the conference that the transaction fee for Berlin was in the region of €40m (£35m) and the one-off cost of the operation was €100m, creating a deficit of up to €60m in the first year. “We do this with confidence,” he said.
The launch of new routes from Berlin also coincided with Easyjet’s expansion of its Worldwide programme, which will see the low-cost airline extend its footprint into long-haul routes through partnership with other airlines, including the new additions of Thomas Cook, Corsair, La Compagnie and Loganair.
Easyjet already has partnerships with WestJet and Norwegian that allow it to offer long-haul connectivity for its customers, who can book multiple flights through one destination on its online portal.
The expansion announced today means that seven new airports – Berlin Tegel, Venice Marco Polo, Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris Charles De Gaulle and Orly and Edinburgh airports – have been added to its programme.
Easyjet said 53m of its customers a year will benefit from the programme.
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