EasyJet : to open 10th UK base at London Southend Airport next spring signalling continued UK growth

• The new UK base will open next March creating around 130 direct and supporting many more indirect jobs
• Three A320neo aircraft will be based at London Southend, with six new routes launching to popular leisure destinations for summer 2025 and more to be announced in the coming weeks.
• Summer 2024 is set to be the biggest ever for easyJet holidays and this year the airline will operate more UK flying than ever before with 57 million seats and 70 new routes, fuelled by strong consumer demand for easyJet's flights and holidays

easyJet has today announced it will be expanding its UK network by opening a three-aircraft base at London Southend next March. The investment will create around 130 direct jobs for pilots and crew in the UK and support many more indirect jobs.

The move signals easyJet's continued expansion in the UK, having launched a base at Birmingham International Airport in March as part of the airline's strategy to take advantage of key growth opportunities across its network.

The UK is easyJet's largest market with 56% of all easyJet passengers flying to and from UK airports and this announcement comes as the airline is set to operate more UK flying than ever before this year with over 57 million seats - a 10% increase versus last year - and has launched 70 new routes from the UK, fuelled by strong consumer demand for easyJet's flights and holidays.

Investing in a 10^th base in the UK with three 186-seat A320neo aircraft at the airport strengthens easyJet's network by positioning it as the carrier of choice to serve UK consumers and capture the continued demand for travel.

The airline already serves international routes from London 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 London 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. easyJet holidays will be on sale from tomorrow with departures from 1 May 2025, meaning package holidays from London Southend will be available seven days a week, with flights on sale in the coming months.

Commenting on the expansion plans, Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet, 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."

John Upton , CEO of London Southend Airport, said:

"We're thrilled to welcome an easyJet base to London Southend, supporting and creating hundreds of jobs locally as well as convenient, new and returning connections to many popular leisure and city destinations.

"This move is indicative of the demand from people in the east of London, Essex and the wider East Anglia region who now have greater opportunities to choose to travel through our well connected, quick and easy airport. easyJet passengers will start their holiday sooner at London Southend as they relax and discover our award-winning terminal experience.

"Our dedicated on-site rail station is less than one hour from central London; only 43 minutes from Stratford, London with connections to the Elizabeth Line; and only 100 paces from the terminal door."

easyJet is the largest leisure airline in the UK and currently employs over 10,000 people across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. As easyJet's single largest market, the airline now has 10 bases in the UK at London Gatwick, London Luton, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and now, London Southend.

easyJet was founded in the UK launching operations nearly 30 years ago and since then has flown over 800 million customers and 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.

ENDS

For further information, please contact the easyJet Press Office viamedicentre.easyJet.com/contactsor on 01582 525252

Notes to editors

About easyJet

easyJet is Europe's leading airline offering a unique and winning combination of the best route network connecting Europe's primary airports with great value fares and friendly service.

easyJet flies on more of Europe's most popular routes than any other airline and carried more than 82 million passengers in 2023 with more than 11.3 million travelling for business. The airline has over 300 aircraft flying on nearly 1000 routes to more than 155 airports across 35 countries. Over 300 million Europeans live within one hour's drive of an easyJet airport.

easyJet aims to be a good corporate citizen, employing people on local contracts in eight countries across Europe in full compliance with national laws and recognising their trade unions. The airline supports several local charities and has a corporate partnership with UNICEF which has raised nearly £17m for the most vulnerable children since it was established in 2012.

In 2022, easyJet published its roadmap to net zero by 2050. The roadmap, which also features a combination of fleet renewal, operational efficiencies, airspace modernisation, Sustainable Aviation Fuel and carbon removal technology, has set an ambitious interim carbon emissions intensity reduction target of 35% by 2035 which is validated by the Science-based targets initiative (SBTi). The airline's ultimate aim is to fully transition its fleet to zero carbon emission technology, which it will achieve through a number of strategic partnerships including with Airbus, Rolls-Royce and GKN Aerospace Solutions. Since 2000, the airline has successfully reduced its carbon emissions per passenger, per kilometre by one-third.

Innovation is in easyJet's DNA - since launching nearly 30 years ago, easyJet changed the way people fly to the present day where the airline leads the industry in digital and operational innovations to make travel more easy and affordable for its passengers.

In 2023 easyJet was named by TIME as one of the World's Best Companies and a Leader in Diversity 2024 by The Financial Times.

About easyJet holidays

easyJet holidays, which launched in 2019 is the UK's fastest growing tour operator, having taken almost 2 million people away in 2023. Named Rising Brand of the Year by Travolution It offers great-value beach, city and lakes holidays to over 5000 hotels, in more than 100 destinations across Europe, directly through its website and through over 5000 travel agent partners. The ATOL-protected holidays can be secured with a deposit of just £60 per person, including flights, hotel, 23kg luggage and transfers on beach holidays. easyJet Holidays is a member of ABTA, and all packages are covered by its Ultimate Flexibility, offering freedom to change a booking, a refund guarantee, and best price guarantee. In 2024 the holiday provider will also start operating from Switzerland, France and Germany.

Winners of the Sustainable Future Award at the Globe Travel Awards, easyJet holidays has a sustainability strategy focusing on three key pillars - create better holiday choices which is about making sustainable travel affordable and accessible to everyone; keep our holidays special which is maximising the benefits and minimising the negative impacts of travel and tourism, and transform travel for everyone which means embedding sustainability into business decisions and behaviours and driving meaningful change in the industry. The tour operator has partnered with the UNWTO to help develop the first environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework for tourism businesses, co-designing a measurement tool that is meaningful and feasible for better monitoring how tourism businesses impact, and depend on, people, planet and prosperity.easyJet holidays has been named one of the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2023 - being called out as one of the most loved employers and highly commended as a great place to work for LGBTQIA+ employees, as well as being named one of the Best Workplaces in Travel 2023.

About London Southend Airport

London Southend Airport has been ranked the best London airport by consumer group Which? six times and voted the best UK airport (under three million capacity) by the Airport Operator's Association in 2019. Serving close to 2.3 million passengers in 2019, London Southend offered services to around 40 domestic and European cities. The terminal has its own railway station, less than 100 paces from the main entrance, with up to six trains an hour at peak times to central London, taking just 52 minutes to Liverpool Street and 43 minutes from Stratford. All airport car parks are located minutes from the terminal entrance.