EasyJet gets big in France

One of Europe’s largest low-fare airlines, easyJet recently announced a large-scale expansion of their services in France. The company is already the second largest carrier in the country and will soon open new bases in the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and at Lyon Airports. The 18th and 19th base of the airline respectively are scheduled to open in the spring of next year.

To begin with, easyJet is planning to add five additional aircrafts to the operations in France. Three will be based in Paris, the other two in Lyon. The planes will fly on some of the 13 routes in the country.

It is expected that the expansion will create hundreds of jobs for pilots, cabin crew and ground workers around the two airports.

The airline is hoping that 6 million passengers will use easyJet’s French services in 2007 and 2 million more in 2008 with the new bases.

The airline has a long-term growth strategy for France. Part of that strategy includes investing €600 million over four years. By the end of 2011, easyJet hopes to have 20 aircrafts carrying 12 million passengers a year across the country along 80 routes. Projections suggest if all goes according to plan, the company will employ around 1,000 French workers.

There are already six easyJet aircrafts operating from Paris Orly. New routes from Charles de Gaulle include: Biarritz, Oporto, Venice, Marrakech, Hamburg and Krakow.

When the new Airbus 319 aircrafts arrive in Lyon’s Saint-Exupéry Airport in April 2008, the company plans to begin flights to Bordeaux, Toulouse, Casablanca, Marrakech, Venice, Porto and Lisbon.

In addition to employing local workers, the operation of domestic flights from regional airports is expected to encourage economic growth in these regions.

www.easyjet.com