Easyjet signs growth agreement with Gatwick Airport
EasyJet has signed a new seven-year deal with Gatwick Airport which will see the airline incentivised to grow its business there.
The airline plans to further expand at Gatwick by increasing slots and deploying larger aircraft as it replaces 156 seat A319s with 180 seat A320s and, from 2017, A320Neos.
In the 12 months to March 2015, the airline will increase capacity and passenger numbers by around 10% compared to the previous year.
At the end of this month, it will add five new routes from Gatwick targeting business travellers, to Brussels, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Jersey, Newcastle and Strasbourg.
It will also double the frequency of services between Gatwick and Inverness from one to two return flights a day.
CEO Carolyn McCall said: "Gatwick is our largest base so it is of strategic importance to secure this new agreement with Gatwick Airport.
"EasyJet shares the CAA’s view that Gatwick has market power but also supports the move towards a more commercial arrangement with the airport within a regulatory framework.
"This agreement gives easyJet certainty on passenger charges over the next seven years and a clear incentive to continue to grow. More importantly, it will create a framework for easyJet and Gatwick to plan and deliver an improved experience for our passengers.
"Our shared ambition is for Gatwick to be both our biggest and best airport."
EasyJet began flying from Gatwick Airport in 1999 and now has 57 aircraft based there, operating on 108 routes.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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