easyJet has opened its first new UK base in more than a decade at Birmingham Airport (BHX) as it prepares for one of its biggest summers ever.
The new Birmingham base, easyJet’s ninth in the UK, will support 140 staff members plus a further 1,200 jobs indirectly.
The base brings the launch of 16 new routes from this summer as well as increased frequencies equating to over 50% more flights each week.
“With an economy bigger than Hungary’s and the largest economy in the UK outside London and the Southeast, Birmingham provides easyJet with significant growth opportunities in the Midlands – a key part of easyJet’s strategy,” easyJet said in a statement announcing the opening of the new base on March 18, 2024.
According to easyJet, 83% of people in England and Wales live within a two-hour drive of Birmingham Airport and the significant majority (89%) of Birmingham Airport traffic is leisure which is important to the carrier’s package holiday segment.
“We are excited to open our newest UK base at Birmingham today, providing more choice, competition and connectivity as well as supporting over 1200 jobs for the region. This base is enabling us to unlock the opportunity of the strong demand which exists for both leisure and business travel, as well as further grow our share of the package holiday market,” Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet, said.
He added: “We see much untapped potential at the airport providing the opportunity to grow further in future years.”
Flights to and from Birmingham are set to carry one of the highest proportions of easyJet Holidays’ customers on the network, with destinations like Majorca, Dalaman, Antalya, Sharm el Sheikh and Tunisia looking most popular for this summer.
”Today sees our growing partnership with easyJet reach new heights as the airline bases three aircraft here at Birmingham Airport. Customers can now take advantage of the airline’s 16 new routes and have the flexibility of flight only or a full package holiday. easyJet has been a partner airline for 17 years. Its expansion here at Birmingham Airport is testament to the service, quality, price, reliability and choice of destination that its customers have come to expect,” Nick Barton, CEO of Birmingham Airport, said.
