TIDMEZJ
RNS Number : 5843Q
easyJet PLC
18 June 2015
18 June 2015
easyJet to expand at Milan Malpensa, Naples and Venice
and reduce services at Rome Fiumicino
easyJet today announced a strengthening of its Italian strategy
through expanding its bases in Italy at Milan Malpensa and Naples
and the opening of a new base in Venice from April 2016. The
airline plans to support this expansion by redeploying aircraft and
crew from Rome Fiumicino.
easyJet CEO Carolyn McCall outlined the airline's plans:
"Italy is a key strategic country for easyJet and our plans for
2016 announced today will expand our presence at Milan, Naples and
Venice, where there are more opportunities for long term
sustainable and profitable growth, while ensuring we continue to
connect Rome Fiumicino with Europe in a way that best reflects
passenger demand.
"Milan, Naples and Venice are all centres of important Italian
economic regions. Each has high levels of passenger demand from
leisure as well as business passengers and all have demand for
flights both into and out of Italy.
"Our expansion in these three airports will bring thousands of
direct and indirect jobs in each region and will ensure easyJet
remains the largest airline at each airport giving all three cities
the best network connecting them with the rest of Europe.
"At a time when there are significant profitable growth
opportunities for easyJet across Europe we are continuing to make a
very significant investment in Italy. easyJet has grown steadily in
Italy in recent years in terms of investment and jobs and will base
29 aircraft in the country next year, employing over 1000 pilots,
cabin crew and other staff and supporting thousands more direct and
indirect jobs."
Barcelona
easyJet also announced that it is to open a new base in
Barcelona from February 2016, basing three Airbus aircraft there.
Barcelona has always been a key network point for easyJet and the
base opening consolidates easyJet's strong position at Barcelona
carrying almost three million passengers a year to and from 14
airports across Europe.
With aircraft based at the airport business travellers will be
able to benefit from earlier departures as well as an increased
number of flights on existing routes connecting to primary airports
in Europe such as London, Paris, Geneva and Milan.
Venice
easyJet will open a base at Venice Marco Polo Airport starting
from April 2016. With four Airbus aircraft based at the airport,
easyJet will increase its contribution to the local economy by
providing 150 local jobs for pilots and cabin crew.
Venice has for some time been a key network point for easyJet,
having operated flights into and out of the city since 1998. The
airline has increased the number of passengers carried by an
average rate of 15% per year over the last five years. easyJet
currently flies to Venice from 15 primary airports across Europe -
such as London Gatwick, Amsterdam and Paris Charles de Gaulle - and
is the largest airline at Marco Polo Airport.
As well as being a world famous tourist destination the region
is Italy's third largest economy and 28% of easyJet's 1.6 million
passengers on flights to and from Venice are travelling on
business. This will be further enhanced when aircraft are based at
the airport as business travellers will be able to benefit from
early morning departures.
Milan Malpensa
Milan Malpensa is already easyJet's second largest base with 18
aircraft and will receive three more from April 2016, providing
over 100 new jobs for pilots and cabin crew.This will strengthen
easyJet's existing status as the largest airline at Milan Malpensa
and gives the airline a strong strategic position serving Italy's
richest metropolitan area of some 9 million people with one of the
country's highest GDP.
Naples
easyJet opened its new base in Naples in 2014 and is now firmly
established as the largest airline at the airport. Naples is
southern Italy's largest city and the third largest in the
country.
easyJet already bases three aircraft in Naples and will base one
more plane there from April 2016 providing 35 more jobs for pilots
and cabin crew. Naples is a top European destination both for
tourism - the city being listed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO -
and for business with a wide network of more than 260,000 companies
and 2.6 million business travellers flying from Naples every
year.
Rome Fiumicino
The Rome Fiumicino base is delivering lower returns than
easyJet's other bases and the new services and routes which will be
operated as a result of this redeployment will better match
easyJet's customers' needs and deliver higher returns for the
airline.
The worsening performance of the Rome Fiumicino base has been
driven by high airport passenger charges, which have more than
doubled since 2012, and will be burdened by further above inflation
increases in the coming years. In addition, Rome Fiumicino airport
provides a poor passenger experience which has led to low levels of
punctuality and customer satisfaction which the recent capacity
increases have exacerbated.
As a result of the redeployment easyJet will cease basing crew
and aircraft at Rome Fiumicino from April 2016. There will be no
job losses as a result of this decision as easyJet will be offering
Rome Fiumicino based crew a transfer to our other Italian bases.
The airline will offer individual relocation plans and support for
all employees. easyJet hopes that as many of its crew as possible
take up this offer.
easyJet remains committed to connecting Italy with the rest of
Europe and will continue to fly around 2 million passengers to and
from Rome Fiumicino next year out of its bases across its network.
This decision does not reflect in any way on easyJet's Rome
Fiumicino based people or the commitment and effort they have made
to deliver a friendly customer experience and high operational
standards.
Summary
Frances Ouseley, easyJet's Italy Director, summarised the
airline's plans for 2016:
"easyJet's commitment to Italy is strengthened. With the opening
of the new base in Venice and the investment increase in Milan and
Naples we will be providing customers and companies with better
choices to travel across our leading network, enabling the growth
of local economies.
"Our capacity to and from Italy and the size of our Italian
route network reflects our belief in the importance of
Italy.easyJet will base 29 aircraft in Italy next year and plans to
carry over 15 million passengers on the country's best European
network serving over 170 routes.
"We are committed to keep on playing an important role in this
dynamic Italian market and as such we need to be agile and flexible
to capture new investment opportunities that are beneficial for
local economies, customers and our shareholders."
Enquiries should be directed to:
easyJet plc
Investor:
Will MacLaren, Investor Relations +44 (0) 7961 763 879
Media:
Paul Moore, Communications +44 (0) 7860 794 444
Anna Knowles, Communications +44 (0) 7985 873 313
Notes to Editors
easyJet market share Financial Position in airport
year 2015 (1 oct - 30 sept)
Milan Malpensa 45% No. 1
------------------------------- --------------------
Naples 30% No. 1
------------------------------- --------------------
Venice 19% No. 1
------------------------------- --------------------
Rome Fiumicino 10% No. 3
------------------------------- --------------------
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
DOCLLFSLRTITLIE
Easyjet (LSE:EZJ)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Easyjet (LSE:EZJ)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024