easyJet has today announced it will be expanding its UK network by opening a new base at Birmingham. The investment will create around 100 direct jobs for pilots and crew in the UK and support around 1200* jobs in total.
easyJet is the largest airline in the UK and currently employs around ten thousand people across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The airline will base three 186-seat A320 aircraft at the airport. Investing in a ninth base in the UK strengthens easyJet’s network by positioning it as the carrier of choice to serve UK consumers and capture the continued demand for travel, further growing its share of the UK leisure market for both the airline and easyJet holidays.
The move is a part of easyJet’s strategy to take advantage of key growth opportunities across its network and follows the return to growth this summer in the UK which will also see easyJet operate its biggest ever UK summer flying programme, flying around eight per cent more capacity than pre-pandemic and over 1 million more seats in peak summer and 57 new routes, including 23 from the UK.
New research commissioned by the airline has revealed travel is the number one priority for UK consumers where consumers are placing more value on travel post pandemic. With their holiday budget the highest priority after household bills, nearly 60% of Brits (57%) are saving on takeaways (45%), meals out (42%) and clothing (30%) to protect their summer holiday and are shifting toward more budget friendly airlines.
easyJet already serves key domestic connections and international routes from Birmingham to popular beach and city destinations including Amsterdam, Geneva, Milan, Naples, Lisbon, Faro and Palma de Mallorca. The addition of more aircraft at the airport will enable the airline to further expand its network from Birmingham with new routes that will prove popular with customers flying from the UK’s second largest city, for holiday makers and business travellers alike.
Not only will the aircraft help support vital UK domestic connectivity outside of London, each UK-based aircraft directly supports 400 jobs and £27m UK GVA considering direct, indirect and induced impacts.*
Commenting on the expansion plans, Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet, said:
“We are delighted to be announcing our new base in Birmingham, the UK’s second largest city, which creates around 100 direct and many more indirect jobs.
“Having already served Birmingham for many years, the decision to open a base and grow at the airport now is testament to the strong demand we see, coupled with the importance of the UK market in supporting our profitable growth.
“The UK is easyJet’s largest market with 55% of all easyJet passengers flying to and from UK airports so this move will not only reinforce our leadership position as the UK’s largest airline, but also demonstrates our confidence in the resilient strength of demand for travel, with customers choosing us for our trusted brand, unrivalled network and great value fares.”
Nick Barton, chief executive of Birmingham Airport (BHX), said:
“This landmark investment by easyJet is a huge vote of confidence in the West Midlands.
“Basing three aircraft at BHX will create many more jobs for local people and many more options for customers.
“Years of hard work have led to this. Together we look forward to years of future success.”
As easyJet’s the single largest market, the airline already has eight bases in the UK at London Gatwick, London Luton, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Belfast. easyJet holidays is the fastest growing holidays company in the UK, also offering holidays from the new base.
easyJet was founded in the UK launching operations from London Luton airport nearly 30 years ago, which remains the home of its headquarters and since then has flown over 800 million customers to and from the UK, having grown to serve 21 UK airports, offering 482 routes to 134 destinations from the UK across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
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