easyJet is today celebrating the 15th anniversary of its Manchester base, having launched first based operations from Manchester on 30th March 2008 with two aircraft and 6 routes to Malaga, Alicante, Tenerife, Malta, Heraklion and Paphos, following easyJet’s acquisition of GB airways in 2008.
Since then, the airline has maintained a continuous operation at Manchester having grown from strength to strength and now employs over 700 people at the airport including pilots and crew and offers over 70 routes across its network spanning the UK, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, following the addition of a route Istanbul to its network which went on sale earlier this month.
In May, the airline will base an additional Airbus A320neo aircraft in Manchester which becomes the 21st easyJet aircraft to join the airline’s Manchester based fleet, and the sixth A320neo aircraft. Compared to the current generation of aircraft, the NEO brings significant improvements in terms of environmental and operational efficiencies: up to 15% less fuel consumption and therefore less CO2 emissions, and 50% less noise during take-off and landing. easyJet is the largest single-brand operator of NEOs in Europe.
In the same week, the airline is celebrating the launch of the first flights on its new summer routes to Paris Orly and Murcia in south-eastern Spain.
Flights to Paris Orly are now departing up to five times a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, providing customers across the north west with an additional daily weekday connection to one of Europe’s most popular city break and business destinations, complementing an existing route to Paris Charles de Gaulle, which further strengthens connectivity between the north west of England and France’s capital.
Flights to Murcia will take off for first time this Saturday 1 April and will be served by twice weekly with departures on Tuesdays and Saturdays offering customers chasing the sun another Spanish-city destination to explore this summer, renowned for its cultural and historical heritage, gastronomy and nature. The new route joins a strong network of 11 other Spanish destinations served from Manchester, including the iconic city of Barcelona, beach holiday favourites Alicante and Malaga, the de facto Basque capital Bilbao as well as the Canary and Balearic Islands.
Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK Country Manager, said:
“We are delighted to be celebrating the 15th anniversary of our Manchester Airport base today. Since launching operations in 2008 with just two aircraft we’ve gone from strength to strength connecting the north west to the rest of Europe and beyond, which couldn’t be more clearly demonstrated than with the launch this week of two of our newest routes to Paris Orly and Murcia in Spain.
“We look forward to the coming months when we’ll welcome the arrival of a 21st aircraft to our Manchester fleet, which will create around 40 local job opportunities and shows our ongoing commitment to the airport and our customers in Manchester, proving them with more choice, the same low fares from just £23.99 still available today as they were , and the warm welcome on board that our fantastic crew are famous for.”
Stephen Turner, commercial director at MAG, said:
“It is great to celebrate 15 years of our partnership with easyJet, and to reflect on how it has gone from strength-to-strength to give our passengers a fantastic and ever-increasing choice of destinations.
“Over the last year alone, easyJet has added routes to Paris Orly and Murcia – which are already proving hugely popular with passengers – and added more based aircraft to its fleet at Manchester, which in turn creates jobs for the local economy.
“This helps cement Manchester’s role as the UK’s global gateway in the North, and we look forward to our relationship with easyJet flourishing further in the years to come.”
