easyJet ups Liverpool investment and routes

BUDGET airline easyJet has introduced a new £20m 180-seater aircraft launched two new routes at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

The new aircraft, an Airbus A320 will be used to operate the new services to the Canary Island holiday destinations of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.

Until now easyJet – which opened a base at JLA in 1997 – has operated a fleet of eight 156-seat Airbus 319s. The larger aircraft gives the airline the ability to fly longer distances to medium- haul routes such as The Canaries.

easyJet now offers a choice of 23 European destinations from JLA, with three new routes to Bordeaux, Dubrovnik and Naples launched earlier this year.

More than 2.4 million passengers from the North West have flown with the airline in the past 12 months.

Trevor Spinks, easyJet’s UK commercial manager said, “The introduction of this new, bigger aircraft and new routes to the Canary Islands reflect our continued commitment to the 22.5 million customers who have flown with us over the past 12 years.

“We’ve listened to customer feedback calling for more routes to the sun and are confident our two new routes to the Canaries will be a huge success, and we plan to continue to expand the choice for our passengers in the North of England.”

:: Meanwhile rival bmibaby has axed two Spanish routes from Manchester after a slump in passenger traffic.

It is thought the ‘staycation’ phenomena and the strength of the euro was behind the decline of the popularity of the Malaga and Alicante routes.

The routes will cease later this month after more than six years, bmibaby said.