Parkin welcomes easyJet brand

THE arrival of easyJet at Leeds-Bradford Airport is an important step forward for the business as it prepares to make a major investment in its facilities, according to chief executive John Parkin.

Mr Parkin welcomed easyJet’s decision to launch a winter service to Geneva, its first flight from Leeds-Bradford, as an endorsement of the direction the airport is taking from a major brand in air travel.

Leeds-Bradford is finalising the timetable of a £30m project to improve facilities at the airport terminal and increase its capacity to 5m passengers a year.

Mr Parkin said: “It’s a key brand. I don’t think there are too many people who haven’t heard of easyJet and similarly we have other strong airlines here where you could say the same.

“But I think this is about the rapid growth and development of Leeds-Bradford up to where it should be in terms of its ability to serve the region’s demand for air travel which is far greater than the airport has been able to service in the past which is why so many people have gone to Manchester.

“If you can combine where people want to go, with a brand they know, with a frequency and choice at a right price that is convenient you have a winning formula.”

Mr Parkin said it was important that the investment in the airport was matched by growth in services and easyJet’s decision was central to that.

While easyJet has only committed to a single route for the moment, the airport is expecting it to operate again next winter and hoping it is the start of the airline establishing a wider network from Leeds-Bradford.

“easyJet seldom operate single routes to anywhere, there are a few examples but they seldom do that. They share our enthusiasm for the scale of the marketplace here and the fact we have millions of people living within 60 minutes, many of whom want to fly.”