Tag Archives: london gatwick

EasyJet’s traffic to more than double at London Stansted over the next five years

EasyJet (easyJet.com) (London-Luton) has reached a new agreement with the new owners of London Stansted Airport (STN) (north of central London). New owner MAG previously acquired STN from Heathrow Airport Holdings for $2.35 billion.

EasyJet, as part of the deal, has promised to raise its Stansted passenger numbers to 6 million passengers per year from the current 2.8 million passengers according to Reuters.

It is unclear if this is a straight built up of traffic with new routes or whether some traffic at other London airports will be moving to STN. The low-fare carrier has recently been adding new routes notably from at Gatwick and Southend. Nearby Luton is the base for the carrier.

Traffic at STN had been declining. This new accord will stem those losses. Rival Ryanair has a major hub at STN.

The airline recently announced it had reached the milestone of more than 60 million passengers who have travelled with the airline in the past 12 months to May 31, 2013.

When easyJet was founded in November 1995 the airline first took to the skies with just two aircraft flying between two domestic UK destinations. Eighteen years later, the airline now operates 212 aircraft flying to 137 airports in 33 countries spanning Europe and North Africa.

More than one hundred of easyJet’s 800 Luton based staff gathered outside the airline’s Hangar 89 head office at London Luton Airport to mark the 60 million milestone and celebrate the airline’s continued success and popularity.

Top Copyright Photo: Terry Wade/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 G-EZIW (msn 2578) in the Linate-Fiumicino Per Tutti special scheme arrives at London (Gatwick).

EasyJet (UK):

The current routes from STN:

Germania expands in the UK and Erfurt-Weimar

Germania Fluggesellschaft (Germania Group) (Berlin) is expanding in the United Kingdom for this summer season as part of its international strategy.

The airline issued this statement:

Germania to expand UK operations:

Berlin-based Germania Group is continuing the successful internationalization of its operations and is stationing two aircraft in the United Kingdom for summer of 2013. Aside from charter flights from London-Gatwick and Manchester to the Greek islands and Cyprus, Germania will operate a scheduled service from London to Pristina.

Gambia Bird, a sister airline of Germania, already operates twice weekly flights from London Gatwick to Freetown in Sierra Leone and Banjul in Gambia.

Germania will operate a regular service on Tuesdays and Fridays from London Gatwick (LGW) to Pristina. Flight ST 6478 will take off at 19:25 from LGW and reach the capital of Kosovo at 23:40. The return flight ST 6479 will depart at 00:25, arriving at LGW at 02:05 (local times).

For the winter season, Germania also operates full charter flights to Greece and the Greek islands, including Corfu, Crete, Mykonos and Samos, for tour operators such as Sunvil Holidays and Pure Crete.

For this purpose, the airline is stationing an Airbus A319 at London Gatwick. On behalf of Olympic Holidays, Germania also flies to the Greek mainland, Greek islands including Crete, Rhodes and Mykonos, and Cyprus from Manchester, the UK’s largest airport outside of London. Germania has stationed an Airbus A319 in Manchester in the colors of its West African sister airline Gambia Bird. The aircraft is available for use in Manchester, as the summer flight schedule in West Africa is adjusted to traditionally lower demand.

The airline is also expanding its operations at Erfurt-Weimar in Germany. Germania started a new weekly route to Palma de Mallorca on May 17. Flights to Ibiza, Corfu and Crete will be added in June.

Top Copyright Photo: Javier Rodriguez/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-112 D-ASTA (msn 4663) approaches Palma de Mallorca for landing.

Middle Copyright Photo: Terry Wade. The Gambia Bird A319 is now operating Germania flights from the UK. Airbus A319-112 D-ASTB (msn 4691) arrives at London Gatwick.

Gambia Bird:

Germania:

Route Map from Erfurt-Weimar:

EasyJet launches London Gatwick-Bergen, Norway flights

EasyJet (easyJet.com) (London-Luton) yesterday (May 20) launched its first ever services from London Gatwick to Bergen, Norway.

Norway is the 33rd country EasyJet flies to with the airline expecting to carry more than 100,000 passengers between Norway and the UK annually.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 G-EJAR (msn 2412) in the Supporting UNICEF motif taxies at Amsterdam.

Video: The expanding easyJet:

EasyJet (UK):

BBC: Flybe is in discussions with EasyJet to sell its 25 slots at London Gatwick

Flybe (Exeter) is reportedly in discussions with EasyJet (easyJet.com) (London-Luton) and others to possibly acquire its 25 landing and takeoff slots at London (Gatwick) according to this report by the BBC. Flybe has been losing money and is currently cutting costs and selling some of its assets.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Terry Wade/AirlinersGallery.com. Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) G-JEDP (msn 4085) in the unique “Low Cost, but not any cost” color scheme approaches the runway at London (Gatwick).

Flybe:

EasyJet to fly to Norway

EasyJet (UK) (easyJet.com) (London-Luton) has announced the launch of its first ever services from London Gatwick to Bergen – also known as the “Gateway to the Fjords” in Norway. The new route will commence on May 20, 2013.

Norway will be the 33rd country easyJet flies to with the airline expecting to carry more than 100,000 passengers between Norway and the UK annually.

easyJet’s timetable of flights between London Gatwick and Bergen is as follows:

From London Gatwick

	Departure Time	Arrive Bergen
Mon-Fri	14:10	17:05
Sat	07:50	10:45
Sun	14:55	17:50

From Bergen

	Departure Time	Arrive Gatwick
Mon-Fri	17:35	18:35
Sat	11:15	12:15
Sun	18:20	19:20

Copyright Photo: Paul Denton. Airbus A319-111 G-EJAR (msn 2412) in the Supporting UNICEF special livery taxies to the runway at Geneva.

EasyJet (UK):

Garuda Indonesia to launch nonstop Jakarta-London Gatwick flights in late 2013

Garuda Indonesia (Jakarta) has announced it will launch nonstop Boeing 777-300 ER flights from Jakarta to London (Gatwick) starting in the fourth quarter of this year. The flag carrier has 10 copies of the new type on order with the first due in June 2013.

Garuda Indonesia:

Norwegian to add two new routes to Alicante, Spain, announces the new routes from the new London Gatwick base

Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian.com) (Oslo) on April 3, 2013, will launch its second international route from Umeå Airport to Alicante, Spain. In addition, on April 9, 2013, Norwegian will also launch its second international route from Karlstad Airport to Alicante.

In addition the low-cost carrier has announced the new routes from the new London (Gatwick) base (see below).

Copyright Photo: Terry Wade. Boeing 737-8JP LN-NOW (msn 37817) with Norwegian painter Oda Krohg on the tail approaches London (Gatwick) for landing.

Norwegian:

London Gatwick Route Map:

Norwegian LGW Route Map

Ryanair cuts Madrid by 35% and Barcelona by 23%

Ryanair (Dublin) is cutting back on its schedule to both Madrid (35 percent reduction) and Barcelona (23 percent reduction) in response to higher airport charges at both airports. The airline issued the following statement:

Ryanair has confirmed deep cuts to its flights at Madrid and Barcelona and across its Spanish operations in 2013 in response to the Spanish Government doubling of airport taxes at both Madrid and Barcelona El Prat airports on July 1, 2012.

From March 30, 2013, Ryanair will cut its Madrid and Barcelona operations as follows:

Madrid (-35%):

· 4 based aircraft cut (from 14 to 10);

· 13 routes cancelled;

· 22 route frequency cuts;

· 272 weekly flights cut;

· 1.9m pax lost (from 5.3m to 3.4m);

· 1,900 “on site” jobs lost (ACI).

Barcelona El Prat (-23%):

· 1 based aircraft cut (from 13 to 12);

· 4 routes cancelled;

· 20 route frequency cuts;

· 170 weekly flights cut;

· 1.2m pax lost (from 5.4m to 4.2m);

· 1,200 “on site” jobs lost (ACI).

Spain (total) (-12%):

· 648 weekly flights cut;

· 4.5m pax lost (from 30m to 25.5m);

· 4,500 “on site” jobs lost (ACI).

These Ryanair cuts are the unavoidable response to the Spanish Goernment’s unjustified and unnecessary doubling of airport taxes at both Madrid and Barcelona El Prat airports in July 2012. These extortionate tax increases, which are now being investigated by the EU Commission, are particularly damaging for Spanish tourism, jobs and the economy at a time when youth unemployment in Spain stands at an alarming 50%.

Ryanair:

British Airways launches London Gatwick-Las Vegas flights

British Airways (London) today (October 29) began its second London-Las Vegas service, helping high rollers travel from London Gatwick to the Nevada city.

The three-times-a-week service will be operated by a three-class Boeing 777 offering three cabins: Club World (business class), World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and World Traveller.

Together with the Heathrow service, British Airways will operate 10 flights a week from Las Vegas.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing. Boeing 777-336 ER G-STBF (msn 40543) completes its final approach into London (Heathrow).

British Airways:

Norwegian to make London Gatwick and Alicante new operational bases

Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian.com) (Oslo) is upgrading its presence at both London (Gatwick) and Alicante to operational bases. The company issued this statement (translated from Norwegian):

In the spring of 2013 Norwegian establishes an additional European base, this time in London. The company will also establish a base in Alicante, Spain. From the base in London, Norwegian will offer a range of direct services to popular destinations around the Mediterranean and in the North. With the new base in England, the company will be well positioned to meet the competition from Asian and European airlines in the long distance market.

The new base is established at London Gatwick, where Norwegian is already a significant player. With more than 100 flights a week, is the company’s largest destination outside the Nordic region. Norwegian see a large passenger potential of several million travelers from London and surrounding areas. The base in Alicante will serve an important part of Norwegian’s Spanish production, similar to the already established bases in Malaga and Las Palmas.

The Company will place three Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the London base of the start-up phase, and then expand to four in the latter part of 2013. The first flights are planned for the summer 2013 program that starts at the beginning of april. Pilots and cabin crew recruited locally.

The background to the establishment is to position Norwegian facing future competition both on short-haul intra-European and long-haul market. Growth and volume necessary to be competitive in today’s international aviation industry. Growth must also be outside the region. While it is expected that the largest growth in traffic and tourist flows in the future come from Asia into Europe. Should we as a Scandinavian airlines remain competitive and at the same time take advantage of the huge traffic growth must now position itself in Europe and Asia, said Norwegian’s CEO Bjorn Kjos.

Norwegian currently has operational bases in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Spain. A new base for Norwegian long-distance companies are being established in Bangkok.

On the financial side, the company issued this statement:

Norwegian reported a profit before tax of close to NOK 900 million. This is the company’s best quarterly results ever and an improvement of 187 million compared to the same period last year. New aircraft have saved the company 28 million NOK in fuel costs compared to the same quarter last year. The savings company itself offset by an extra bill of NOK 25 million as a result of a shortage of air traffic controllers in Norwegian Avinor.

In the third quarter, flew Norwegian nearly 5.2 million passengers. That’s 580,000 more than last year and also a new record for the company. The quarter was also characterized by a high load factor of 82 percent. Any passengers flew on average longer which is reflected in passenger traffic (RPK) increased by 17 percent in the third quarter, seat capacity (ASK) increased by 20 percent.

Norwegian Air Shuttle: