EasyJet has unveiled its network expansion decision with the addition of five aircraft to seasonal bases in Malaga (AGP), Palma de Mallorca (PMI), and Faro (FAO) for next summer. From May 22 next year, the budget carrier will expand its fleet with the intent to generate around 120 direct jobs in Spain, along with 30 new positions at the Portuguese site. Currently, the airline has employed more than 400 people under local contracts there.
On September 21, the airline announced to base five aircraft in Malaga and seven in Palma to capture a large slice of peak travel demand. As the airline already has four planes deployed in Barcelona base, EasyJet will expand the Spanish fleet to 16 aircraft altogether with recent aircraft addition. The airline will add an aircraft into Faro base in Portugal too.
The expansion of seasonal bases implies that the fleet in Portugal and Spain next year will outperform the fleet of the pre-pandemic period by 70%. The CEO of EasyJet, Johan Lundgren, stated the reason behind the decision to add five aircraft to these bases. While EasyJet has come through the unprecedented break induced by the pandemic effectively, launching two seasonal bases in Spain will optimize the carrier’s network and contribute to the post-pandemic recovery. Mr. Lundgren also explained the opportunities EasyJet can grab in this recovery phase across Europe, where full-service network carriers will retrench. EasyJet Airlines is confident and ready to grab the market with leisure and beach travel recovery next summer.
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A growing presence in Malaga and Palma will provide flexibility for EasyJet to capture demand on these key destinations. Comparative low fares, unrivaled air network, and brand of EasyJet will strengthen these strategic growth opportunities. UK-based EasyJet will explore new traffic flows in the future by increasing capacity in Malaga and Faro, which it operated earlier year.
Air Travel Scenario in Malaga and Palma de Mallorca
The European aviation market is gradually ramping up with increased tourism demand and flight operations. Malaga-Costa Airport, the fourth busiest airport in Spain, serves as a focus city for Ryanair, Vueling, and EasyJet from next summer. On October 8, 2020, EasyJet had announced to launch of seasonal flights in Malaga by its subsidiary EasyJet Europe. The Malaga airport transported over 5 million passengers in 2020. Given the European government progressively opening up to enable travel without restriction, Malaga will soon witness the air traffic crowding.
Major domestic UK expansion for @easyJet this summer. Part of this is backfilling where Stobart operated. But a lot of it is taking advantage of domestic tourism demand as border reopening remains unclear.https://t.co/97TebjYyTZ pic.twitter.com/5Y8bLixUHd
— Seth Miller (@WandrMe) June 17, 2021