Budget airline easyJet is set to move into the package holidays sector in the next few weeks, and already has plans to offer five million bargains in 30 countries to entice customers.

easyJet Holidays is a new operation that will see the airline link up with independent bedbank lowcostbeds, which provides accommodation for the lowcostholidays operation.

The package deals, which are being billed as ”flexible holidays at unbeatable packages”, will be made available through Teletext Holidays – a sales platform that has been the subject of a multimillion-pound restructuring and relaunch by its owners, Daily Mail & General Trust, and also through an easyJet Holidays call centre.

easyJet flies to 89 destinations from UK airports including Stansted, Luton and Gatwick.

In theory, the new operation appears likely to slash overheads and labour costs to a minimum, and also cuts out commissions for any middleman.

Victoria Sanders, managing director Teletext Holidays, says: “It’s an exciting move for the travel industry and we are working closely with the team to drive sales in the first few weeks.”

But can it provide better holidays and better value than existing operators and travel agents in a market which is already intensely price-driven?

Lawrence Hunt, at lowcostholidays, thinks it can.

“There are many, many advantages of using easyJet,” he says.

 ”Holidays will be entirely flexible, so if you don’t want to catch a 6am flight, you needn’t. And when it is cheaper to take a nine-day package than seven, it will be easy to stay on for the longer period.”

Copyright Press Association 2011

Budget airline easyJet will add an extra plane to its operation at Scottish airport and put on a new service to Athens, it has been revealed.

Industry chiefs and politicians have welcomed the move which will see a new Airbus A320 added to Edinburgh Airport, boosting its capacity by 300,000 seats a year and benefiting both business and leisure travellers in the process. The move is also expected to create an extra 60 jobs.

A new flight carrying travellers from Edinburgh to Athens will also be added to the airport’s schedules along with new services to Grenoble and Tenerife.

It was also disclosed that easyJet intends to bring in a 180-seat Airbus A320 plane to replace one of its four Glasgow aircraft. The new aircraft will carry an extra 40,000 passengers a year.

Edinburgh Airport managing director Kevin Brown said on Wednesday: “Today’s announcement is not only an investment in Edinburgh Airport, but in Edinburgh itself.

“It has consistently proven that it is a city in which people want to live, work and visit. We will continue to work with our airlines and the city to ensure that as many people as possible can do just that.”

First Minister Alex Salmond said: “The provision of a fifth plane for Edinburgh, a bigger aircraft in Glasgow and the opening up of these new routes will not only create 60 new jobs but will also contribute towards longer-term economic growth.”

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Belfast International has added Malta to its list of destinations, which already include London Stansted and Paris among others. 

easyJet adds new flights to Malta

The new flights, the airline’s 20th route, will leave twice a week, making it easier for passengers to hop across to the Mediterranean island.

Meanwhile for those flying into Stansted may need to arrange transport into central London to continue their trip or to catch connecting flights at Heathrow, Luton or Gatwick airports.

Paul Simmons, easyJet Regional general manager, said: “We’re delighted to be launching this new route to Malta, which is a popular destination for leisure and business travellers, and strengthens easyJet’s existing destinations from Northern Ireland.

“Malta has a rich history that is evident in its stunning architecture. For today’s visitors, there is also the obvious attraction of clear blue waters and dry, warm summers,” he added.

Once in Malta, it’s well worth catching the ferry over to the small neighbouring island of Gozo – well known for its rustic scenery and plethora of churches – 22 in total. The Xewkija church, featuring its famous dome which is larger than London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, can seat 3,000 people.

Gozo is also famous for its Ggantija temples – the oldest religious structures in the world.

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UK no-frills airline easyJet has announced a new route from Gatwick Airport to Zagreb, Croatia.

New route to Zagreb launched

Flights will go to the Central European country five times a week and prices for a seat on the plane start at £25.99 one-way, including taxes.

Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, is known as the country’s cultural and political hub, with the picturesque Medvednica Mountain in the background and the Sava River running through it.

The city history can be traced to the era of the Roman Empire and the city itself was once split in two. It is well known for its great geographical location as it straddles the Pannonian Basin, which leads to the Adriatic, Alpine, Dinaric and Pannonic regions.

The carrier now flies to 92 destinations from London Gatwick and will soon be taking the total to 100 when more European destinations are added.

General manager of the airline Paul Simmons said: “We’ve launched the new Zagreb route as it is a popular destination for both business and leisure passengers. With flights from £25.99 one-way and departing from London Gatwick fives times a week we’re making it accessible for everyone.

“easyJet is the largest airline to fly from London Gatwick and the new Zagreb route means we fly to 92 destinations. A further six new routes will be launching shortly to Amman, Aberdeen, Izmir, Verona, Seville and Bologna providing even more choice to travellers.”

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Budget airline easyJet has confirmed it has agreed a multimillion-pound deal to add 15 more aircraft to its ever growing fleet of planes.

easyJet confirms fleet expansion

The low-cost carrier confirmed it was buying 15 more Airbus A320 planes and switching a deal for the delivery of 20 A319 aircraft to larger A320 models to increase passenger capacity. It has also secured new options to purchase a further 33 A320s.

The orders come despite opposition from founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who has previously criticised plans to expand the fleet.

Sir Stelios, who recently resolved a long-running dispute with the firm, gave a cautious welcome to the announcement, but said he wanted greater clarity on where the planes will be deployed.

He said: “As the licensor of the easyJet brand, any move that increases easyJet’s turnover should lead to higher royalties, so today’s announcement sounds like good news at least in the short term from this perspective.”

He added: “We shall see if these 15 incremental aircraft will find deployment on profitable new routes and earn the appropriate return on capital employed.”

“I am still hoping to get greater transparency on which routes these and any other new aircraft are to be deployed.”

The airline, which is based at Luton Airport, and operates out of a host of other British airports, including Gatwick and Stansted, currently has 193 planes.

It aims to increase this to 220 by the end of September 2013, while the 15 new aircraft will be delivered between 2012 and 2014.

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Passengers looking for cheap flights to the Middle East might be pleased to discover that easyJet has put tickets on sale for its new service to the Jordanian capital of Amman – which begins in late March.

easyJet has put tickets on sale for its new service to Jordan

David Symes, director of the Jordan Tourist Board in the UK, said: “We have been discussing direct flight options to Jordan with easyJet for a number of years and we are delighted at the launch of this new service.”

“With hugely competitive lead-in fares from only £106 return per person, travel to Jordan becomes more affordable to all, and particularly to families who have previously been subjected to the more rigid pricing structures of scheduled airlines.”

Mr Symes revealed that outward fares start from around £100, with returns from around £32. Many visitors in the early summer can expect to pay less than £150 for a basic return flight.

The new service, which takes five hours from Gatwick Airport, could boost the number of British tourists to Jordan by around 12,000 from its current level of 65,000 a year. It follows the launch of the easyJet service to Luxor, in Egypt, last month.

By choosing the right booking and travel periods, Mr Symes insists a family of four can travel to Amman for little more than the cost of a “single ticket on a scheduled carrier”.

He believes the new service will boost demand from independent travellers – who already account for more than 50% of UK visitors to Jordan – as well as others on packages.

Independent travellers find Jordan particularly attractive because it has a wide range of accommodation – from five-star hotels to small, family-run properties and guesthouses. Also it is regarded as very safe and child friendly with plenty for families to do.

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In the same year that easyJet celebrates the fifth anniversary of the opening of its base in Basel, Switzerland, the low-cost airline has begun four new services - increasing its total number of new routes from its Swiss base to 38.

easyJet passengers can now fly from Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg Airport to Dresden, Edinburgh, Gran Canaria and Tel Aviv, along with many other destinations across Europe.

This winter, easyJet is flying from Basel to 27 destinations across the continent, with a further four – Ajaccio, Cagliari, Olbia and Split – being served seasonally in summer. 

Travellers wishing to stop off in London can fly to Gatwick before taking an airport transfer in order to continue their journey, and passengers wishing to fly to Rome can still do so via easyJet’s service to Rome Fiumicino. Munich, meanwhile, is still served by Lufthansa, Air France has multiple daily flights to Paris CDG and Paris Orly, and Swiss operates five-times weekly to Prague.

Although this winter sees easyJet serving more destinations than ever before from Basel, the number of weekly flights is almost the same as in 2007, when the airport handled nearly 4.3 million passengers. 

In 2009, the figure had fallen to 3.85 million, but in the first 10 months of 2010, passenger numbers had increased by 6%.

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The fallout from the Icelandic volcano and the ensuing disruption to air travel failed to prevent budget airline easyJet from beating annual profit forecasts.             

easyJet beats profits forecasts

The low-cost airline also cheered investors by announcing it will  pay a dividend to shareholders for the first time.

Following the Icelandic volcanic eruption in March and the resulting ash cloud over Europe, easyJet had to cancel 7,314 flights, causing disruption to 960,000 passengers.

The plan to pay a dividend next year should appease founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, whose family controls around 38% of the shares and has long called for the easyJet board to start payments to shareholders.

The airline has recruited more staff and introduced additional breaks in its schedule, in what the company has described as a long-term fix.

easyJet, which flies from UK airports including London-based Luton, Gatwick and Stansted, also announced it will buy another 24 planes, expanding its fleet to a total of 220 aircraft by September 2013, representing a 7% increase in seats per year.

The firm announced it has launched a new flexible fare targeted at business travellers that will give passengers flexibility to change their flight up to two hours before the scheduled departure time.

Its other aim is to increase ancillary revenues after it started easyJet Holidays, allowing passengers to book accommodation at the same time as booking a flight.

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easyJet plans to introduce flights from Israel to Switzerland to add to its existing Tel Aviv to Luton Airport flights, it has been revealed.

easyJet to operate Israel flights

The move, which will see the budget airline offer routes from Tel Aviv to Basle and Tel Aviv to Geneva, comes as Israel’s ministry of transport reported that there will be 13% more flights this winter to and from the country compared with last winter. 

In an attempt to bolster the number of flights to and from the country during the winter season, which started last week, the Israel Airport Authority has approved routes to and from Israel by 53 foreign air carriers.

Other companies flying to and from Israel for the first time are Germanwings, which will operate flights between Tel Aviv and Cologne, Spanair, which will fly passengers to and from Tel Aviv and Barcelona, Air Ukraine, which will operate Tel Aviv to Kiev flights, Cimber Sterling, which will schedule Tel Aviv to Copenhagen and Armavia which will operate flights from Tel Aviv to Yerevan.

Minister of Transport Israel Katz said that El Al Israel Airlines Ltd will have 7% more flights this winter compared with last winter. He added that Arkia Airlines Ltd would have 12 weekly flights overseas and Israir seven weekly flights.

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Madeira, Gran Canaria and Larnaca are among the destinations featured in easyJet’s summer 2011 schedule from London Gatwick.

The UK’s largest airline will be operating a total of 86 routes from the airport next summer. The budget airline is selling flights for as little as £22.99 (one way, including taxes). The routes will begin operating from March 27 until September 30, 2011.

Paul Simmons, UK regional general manager of easyJet, said: “Our new summer schedule makes summer sun destinations even more accessible for our London passengers. 

“easyJet will offer 86 routes in Summer 2011 from London Gatwick. The secret to our success is offering the lowest fares to the most convenient airports.”

The airline has already launched the summer 2011 schedule from Stansted, where electric car owners will be able to plug and go under proposals for a network of charging posts at the airport.

Plans to install 600 plug-in posts across the East of England at a cost of £7 million are being considered by the Government after they were presented in Parliament. The proposals includes 10 posts at Stansted and another 114 in the Thames Gateway in south Essex. A final decision is expected by the end of December 2010.

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