Tag Archives: Naples

easyJet adds a new destination from Munich

EasyJet is now connecting a new destination with Munich.

From June 28, the low-cost airline is serving Naples three times a week, satisfying the high demand from Munich’s catchment area for flights to the popular vacation region.

With flights to the region around the Amalfi Coast and the offshore islands of Capri and Ischia, the airline has added another route to its established flights from Munich to London-Gatwick, Manchester and Edingburgh.

The traditional ribbon cutting ceremony was carried out by Stephan Erler, EasyJet’s Country Manager Germany (photo: 5th from right), Thomas Kube VP Route & Passenger Development of Munich Airport (photo: 3rd from right) and Stephan Weisang, Director Route & Passenger Development of Munich Airport (4th from left) together with crew members.

EasyJet to expand at Milan Malpensa, Naples and Venice and reduce operations at Rome Fiumicino

EasyJet (easyJet.com) (London-Luton) today announced a strengthening of its Italian strategy through expanding its bases in Italy at Milan Malpensa and Naples and the opening of a new base in Venice from April‎ 2016. The airline plans to support this expansion by redeploying aircraft and crew from Rome Fiumicino.

EasyJet CEO Carolyn McCall‎ outlined the airline’s plans:

“Italy is a key strategic country for easyJet and our plans for 2016 announced today will expand our presence at Milan, Naples and Venice, where there are more opportunities for long term sustainable and profitable growth, while ensuring we continue to connect Rome Fiumicino with Europe in a way that best reflects passenger demand.

“Milan, Naples and Venice are all centres of important Italian economic regions. Each has high levels of passenger demand from leisure as well as business passengers and all have demand for flights both into and out of Italy.

“Our expansion in these three airports will bring thousands of direct and indirect jobs in each region and will ensure easyJet remains the largest airline at each airport giving all three cities the best network connecting them with the rest of Europe.

“At a time when there are significant profitable growth opportunities for easyJet across Europe we are continuing to make a very significant investment in Italy. easyJet has grown steadily in Italy in recent years in terms of investment and jobs and will base 29 aircraft in the country next year, employing over 1000 pilots, cabin crew and other staff and supporting thousands more direct and indirect jobs.”

Barcelona

EasyJet also announced that it is to open a new base in Barcelona from February 2016, basing three Airbus aircraft there. Barcelona has always been a key network point for easyJet and the base opening consolidates easyJet’s strong position at Barcelona carrying almost three million passengers a year to and from 14 airports across Europe.

With aircraft based at the airport business travellers will be able to benefit from earlier departures as well as an increased number of flights on existing routes connecting to primary airports in Europe such as London, Paris, Geneva and Milan.

Venice

EasyJet will open a base at Venice Marco Polo Airport starting from April 2016. With four Airbus aircraft based at the airport, easyJet will increase its contribution to the local economy by providing 150 local jobs for pilots and cabin crew.

Venice has for some time been a key network point for EasyJet, having operated flights into and out of the city since 1998. The airline has increased the number of passengers carried by an average rate of 15% per year over the last five years. easyJet currently flies to Venice from 15 primary airports across Europe – such as London Gatwick, Amsterdam and Paris Charles de Gaulle – and is the largest airline at Marco Polo Airport.

As well as being a world famous tourist destination the region is Italy’s third largest economy and 28% of easyJet’s 1.6 million passengers on flights to and from Venice are travelling on business. This will be further enhanced when aircraft are based at the airport as business travellers will be able to benefit from early morning departures.

Milan Malpensa

Milan Malpensa is already easyJet’s second largest base with 18 aircraft and will receive three more from April 2016, providing over 100 new jobs for pilots and cabin crew. This will strengthen EasyJet’s existing status as the largest airline at Milan Malpensa and gives the airline a strong strategic position serving Italy’s richest metropolitan area of some 9 million people with one of the country’s highest GDP.

Naples

EasyJet opened its new base in Naples in 2014 and is now firmly established as the largest airline at the airport. Naples is southern Italy’s largest city and the third largest in the country.

EasyJet already bases three aircraft in Naples and will base one more plane there from April 2016 providing 35 more jobs for pilots and cabin crew. Naples is a top European destination both for tourism – the city being listed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO – and for business with a wide network of more than 260,000 companies and 2.6 million business travellers flying from Naples every year.

Rome Fiumicino

The Rome Fiumicino base is delivering lower returns than EasyJet’s other bases and the new services and routes which will be operated as a result of this redeployment will better match easyJet’s customers’ needs and deliver higher returns for the airline.‎

The worsening performance of the Rome Fiumicino base has been driven by high airport passenger charges, which have more than doubled since 2012, and will be burdened by further above inflation increases in the coming years. In addition, Rome Fiumicino airport provides a poor passenger experience which has led to low levels of punctuality and customer satisfaction which the recent capacity increases have exacerbated.

As a result of the redeployment EasyJet will cease basing crew and aircraft at Rome Fiumicino from April 2016. There will be no job losses as a result of this decision as easyJet will be offering Rome Fiumicino based crew a transfer to our other Italian bases. The airline will offer individual relocation plans and support for all employees. easyJet hopes that as many of its crew as possible take up this offer.

EasyJet remains committed to connecting Italy with the rest of Europe and will continue to fly around 2 million passengers to and from Rome Fiumicino next year out of its bases across its network. This decision does not reflect in any way on easyJet’s Rome Fiumicino based people or the commitment and effort they have made to deliver a friendly customer experience and high operational standards.

Copyright Photo: Keith Burton/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 G-EZDJ (msn 3544) painted in the new 2015 livery arrives at Southend near London.

EasyJet (UK) aircraft slide show:

Iberia to add six new routes from Madrid next summer

Iberia (Madrid) is planning to add six new destinations for the next summer season. The flag carrier will add service from Madrid to Budapest (starting on June 2, 2015, three weekly flights), Catania (June 20, one weekly), Florence (March 29, six weekly), Funchal (July 4, twice weekly), Hamburg (March 30, four weekly) and Palermo (June 23, weekly) per Airline Route.

Additionally Iberia Express will add Edinburgh (March 29, four weekly), Naples (June 1, three weekly) and Verona (June 2, three weekly).

Iberia aircraft slide show:

Map of Iberia’s expansion:

EasyJet to use cutting-edge technologies including drones to inspect the aircraft

EasyJet (London-Luton), the UK’s largest airline, has announced it will be applying new and innovative technologies to help operate its fleet of 220 Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft even more efficiently and reduce delays while maintaining its industry leading punctuality and safety records.

Commenting on these advances, chief executive of easyJet, Carolyn McCall, said:

“We have examined and assessed cutting edge technology across many different industries and are now applying a range of new technologies to the aviation sector for the first time to help us run our fleet of aircraft more effectively, efficiently and safely.”

“The advantage of these emerging technologies is threefold – freeing up our engineering team to undertake more skilled tasks, keeping our costs down which in turn keeps our fares low and helping to minimise delays so maintaining our industry leading punctuality for our passengers.

“Safety is our number one priority and so all of these new technologies will be applied by our experienced engineering and flight crew to ensure our leading safety record is maintained.”

DRONE AND ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY

The airline has announced it is working with Coptercraft, Measurement Solutions and Bristol Robotics Laboratory to modify existing technology so that drones can be employed to inspect its fleet of Airbus aircraft. The drones will be programmed to scan and assess the planes reporting back to engineers on any damage which may require further inspection or maintenance work. The drones are currently in development with a view to trialling them in the coming months and introducing them into operation as early as next year.

Ian Davies, Head of Engineering for easyJet, commented;

“Drone technology could be used extremely effectively to help us perform aircraft checks. Checks that would usually take more than a day could be performed in a couple of hours and potentially with greater accuracy.”

Dr Arthur Richards, Head of Aerial Robotics at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, a partnership between the University of Bristol and the University of West England, commented:

“Aircraft inspection is a great application for drones. Coupled with smart navigation and computer vision, they can get accurate data from really awkward places.

“We look forward to working with easyJet to develop safe, effective and efficient drone systems for this challenge.”

3D AUGMENTED REALITY TECHNOLOGY

Alongside the drone technology, easyJet is looking at deploying 3D Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technology by Epson and Vuzix which enables a remote engineering team to see exactly what a pilot or engineer is seeing using virtual reality glasses. The glasses use the world’s first high definition see through display system, providing augmented reality helping easyJet to remotely diagnose a technical issue.

This technology will be especially useful in some of the airline’s more remote airports across its network – the airline currently flies to 138 airports with some as far away as Sharm el Sheikh and Tel Aviv.
Currently engineers and pilots have to email pictures and call easyJet’s Operations Control Centre to try and resolve the issue over the phone. easyJet is also currently trialling similar video technology from Vidcie and XO Eye that allows live streaming between the engineer on the ramp and easyJet’s OCC.
OCC will also be able to provide live information to the engineers and pilots in real time, along with technical assistance through an integrated handsfree head set.

Ian Davies continued:

“3D augmented reality technology is key to easyJet reducing longer delays when an aircraft is down route. This will help us get greater clarity on any technical issues which occur hundreds of miles away. By wearing the augmented reality glasses, pilots or engineers down route can transmit live pictures and data to the

EasyJet Operations Control Centre at Luton giving them direct access to visual information making it easier for them to resolve any technical issue.”

APPS

EasyJet’s engineering department has also worked with Output42 to develop their own bespoke apps which will allow our engineers to perform certain day-to-day issues more efficiently and enable easyJet to return aircraft to service more quickly. For example, one app helps engineers identify and replace damaged fan blades (for example, after a bird strike) more quickly by scanning fan blades and automatically ordering a suitable replacement blade from the airline’s inventory.

The apps are in different stages of development and we expect to be trialling a range of them over the course of the summer.

PAPERLESS AIRCRAFT

EasyJet will complete the fitting of Panasonic Toughpads, in place of laptops and printed navigational charts, in all of its cockpits by the end of this month. This means that the airline is already nearing a completely paperless plane. These tablets will also make easyJet one of the first airlines to use this type of device in all phases of flight and on the ground. By replacing heavy printed log books easyJet expects to reduce fuel costs by around $500,000 each year. Every kilo of weight taken off easyJet’s fleet of aircraft saves around $20,000 per year.

In addition, new ‘e-paper’ technology created by Sony, could see easyJet completely eradicate printed forms in the cabin; this would mean an entirely paperless plane. This new Digital Paper is the latest lightweight design from Sony which makes it feel like the user is writing on paper. Completed forms can be quickly saved into a central database enabling the airline’s operational team quick and easy access to information on all of the aircraft. Trials will start in the coming months.

INFLIGHT MONITORING AND PROGNOSIS

EasyJet is working with FlightWatching to install a state-of-the-art early fault prognosis tool which can provide the airline’s operations and engineering staff with live updates directly from all of its aircraft as they fly.

The system is an innovative web-based software system from FlightWatching called WILCO which can receive real time values of aircraft system parameters via the ACARS messaging system. This data is then transformed into an animated schematic that can be used to predict any potential issues or to troubleshoot known technical faults before the plane lands. This means the prognostic tool will enable the ground-based engineers to start investigation mid-flight and ensure that the correct engineering resource or parts are available for when the flight lands, thus increasing efficiency.

EASYJET’S FLEET – BACKGROUND INFORMATION

EasyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with all manufacturers’ regulations, often exceeding them. The airline employs a highly skilled workforce of 237 engineering staff as well as outsourcing to external suppliers in many bases across its network.

EasyJet’s engineering department has a track record in innovation, last year working alongside Airbus and Nicarnica Aviation to prove its ash detection technology which is expected to be fitted onto an easyJet aircraft within the coming months.

EasyJet recently placed an order to acquire 35 current generation A320 aircraft for delivery between 2015 and 2017 under its existing agreement and 100 new generation A320neo aircraft for delivery from 2017 until 2022.

EasyJet employs 2500 pilots operating on its 220 Airbus aircraft across its network of more than 680 routes.

Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 G-EZEZ (msn 2360) now promotes the destination of Napoli (Naples) in Italy. It previously promoted the now delayed Berlin Brandenburg Airport and Willy Brandt (1913-1992).

EasyJet (UK):

EasyJet to open a new base in Naples, Italy in 2014

EasyJet (easyJet.com) (UK) (London-Luton) has announced its expansion plans in Italy with the opening of a base in Naples. The new base, EasyJet’s third in Italy and 24th in its European network, will be operational from spring 2014.

Having first started operations in Naples in 2000, EasyJet now carries more passengers than any other airline into and out of Naples. In the last twelve months the airline has flown 1.6 million passengers. From spring, the two aircraft based in Naples will enable easyJet to fly more than an additional 350,000 passengers meaning that annual passenger numbers will reach almost two million.

EasyJet will fly 20 routes from the base, five of those will be introduced in the Spring of 2014, and will offer 130 flights a week at peak season from Naples. The airline will fly additional frequencies on key routes such as London Gatwick with two daily flights.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 G-EZWD (msn 5249) lands at Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg.

EasyJet (UK):