 "New jobs as easyJet agrees 10th UK base at Southend")
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The move signals easyJet’s continued expansion in the UK having launched a base at Birmingham International Airport in March as part of its strategy to take advantage of growth opportunities across its network.
The UK is easyJet’s largest market with 56 per cent of all passengers flying to and from UK airports. The announcement comes as the airline is set to operate more UK flying than ever this year with over 57 million seats – a 10 per cent increase on last year – and has launched 70 new routes from the UK, fuelled by strong consumer demand.
The airline will operate three 186-seat A320neo aircraft from Southend. It already serves international routes from Southend to popular beach and city destinations Amsterdam, Geneva, Faro, Palma de Mallorca, Malaga and Paris Charles de Gaulle and has flown over seven million customers from Southend since operations began in 2012.
The planned addition of more aircraft is already enabling the airline to launch six new routes to Pisa, Gran Canaria, Dalaman and Antalya, Marrakech as well as Enfidha in Tunisia.
CEO Johan Lundgren said: “We are delighted to be announcing another three-aircraft base in the UK, at London Southend Airport. This will create hundreds of jobs and provide more choice for consumers with new routes and package holidays.
“Our continued growth and investment in the UK highlights the importance of the market where this year we will operate more flying than ever before with our customers choosing our flights and holidays because of our trusted brand, unrivalled network and great value fares.”
Lundgren will step down as chief executive and leave easyJet early in 2025 having then served seven years as CEO. At that time Kenton Jarvis will take over. Kenton joined easyJet in February 2021, serving as a board member and CFO. He will continue in the CFO role during the transition period and a search for his successor will start soon.
easyJet was founded in the UK, launching operations nearly 30 years ago, and has since flown more than 800 million customers and is set to operate 100m annual seats this year. The airline now serves 21 UK airports offering over 500 routes from the UK to over 120 destinations in 30 countries across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.