easyJet opens of its 27th base in Europe at Venice Marco Polo Airport

• Venice is easyJet’s 27th base in Europe
• easyJet will base four A319 Airbus aircraft and provide 150 local jobs
• More choice with 10 new destinations and more flights on existing routes

LUTON, England, 2016-Feb-03 — /Travel PR News/ — easyJet, Europe’s leading airline, today celebrated the opening of its 27th base in Europe at Venice Marco Polo Airport. The decision is part of a strengthening of the airline’s Italian strategy which, alongside the new base in Venice, sees expansion at Milan Malpensa and Naples during 2016.

Carolyn McCall, CEO of easyJet and Frances Ouseley, easyJet’s Italy Director, celebrated this important milestone in the airline’s Italian expansion plan during a ceremony attended by the President of Marco Polo Airport, Enrico Marchi.

The airline unveiled an aircraft with a special livery featuring one of Venice’s iconic gondolas that will help to promote the city across the 32 countries easyJet flies to. To celebrate the new base, easyJet also turned the popular and spectacular Venice’s Carnival celebrations orange on Sunday 31 January where the traditional ‘flight of the angel’ culminated on an easyJet runway on San Marco Square.

Speaking from Venice, easyJet CEO Carolyn McCall‎, commented:

“I am delighted to be opening our new base in Venice today alongside Mr. Enrico Marchi. We started our operation here in 1998, and since then have invested greatly in Venice carrying over 12 million passengers and becoming the largest airline by far with a current market share of 24%.

“And today we are moving this investment further with the launch of the new base we are increasing capacity by 35% to 2.4 million seats,  there will be 150 pilots and cabin crew based in Venice, together with a dedicated management team, to operate four A319 Airbus aircraft”

“In Italy over the course of 2016 easyJet plans to carry over 17 million passengers and employ more than 1100 pilots, cabin crew and other staff, providing the country’s best European network operating on over 180 routes from 17 Italian airports.

“With the opening of the new base in Venice and our expansion in Milan and Naples easyJet will be providing Italian customers and companies with better choices to travel across our leading network.”

With the investment in the new base, the airline has increased the number of weekly flights by up to 45% providing consumers a choice of an average of 50 daily flights – with popular business and leisure destinations such as London and Paris connected with up to 6 flights a day, Naples with 4 daily flights and Berlin with 2. It also introduced as many as 10 new destinations widening the choice for passengers departing from Venice Marco Polo Airport that can now choose from 25 destinations, making Venice even better connected to the rest of Europe.

In order to celebrate the long lasting relationship with Confindustria (General Confederation of Italian Industry) easyJet have launched a promotion that will allow all Confindustria members who start their journey from Venice airport, flying easyJet by 30 April, to use fast track and lounge services for free at Venice airport.

Frances Ouseley, easyJet’s Italy Director, commented:

“Launching an investment of such magnitude at this stage of the recovery of the Italian economy and in such a strategic area for Italy is a great honour for me today, and proof of how easyJet supports growth opportunities in our country.

“The dynamic nature of the business community of this region and its significant  international trading flows grants, thanks to easyJet, a set of efficient and unique air travel services, tailored for the local needs.

“easyJet’s base in Venice is going to provide, for the first time, local business passengers a chance to benefit from early morning departures and a flexible schedule for same day trip arrangements to Europe’s main economic centres.

“We plan to fly 2.2 million passengers to and from Venice in this financial year. Thanks to the long lasting partnership with SAVE, the airport authority that manages one of Italy’s leading airports, passengers will benefit from a dedicated infrastructure that provides a pleasant airport experience.”

Enrico Marchi, SAVE’s President, commented: 

“Today is a special day for the partnership between Venice airport and easyJet;  its  importance should not be viewed as an arrival point of what has been a long-standing relationship, it must be viewed as a new beginning. Today easyJet presents its new base and we are positive that it will be a resounding success, which will induce the carrier to further invest both in our airport and in our territory.”

Luigi Brugnaro, Venice’ Mayor, added:

“easyJet’s decision to choose Venice as its new base shows again the endless possibilities that our City offers and the advantages resulting from being connected with the most important airports in Europe and worldwide. This decision is also a choice that goes forward in the direction of one of the primary goals of this Administration, the opportunity to offer skilled job opportunities to young people; and this is definitely a great opportunity for the City.

“The airport is one of the most important assets we have, also because it represents the calling card for those who choose our City as their destination. Thanks then to easyJet for believing in the potentiality of Venice, a decision that will surely bring good luck to the company.”

ENDS

For further information please contact the easyJet press office on 01582 525252 or visit www.easyjet.com

Notes to Editors

VENETO

Venice Marco Polo catchment area is called “North East”, with 7.2M inhabitants living in 3 regions Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige and Friuli Venezia Giulia and is one of Italy’s largest economies. Veneto is its main region where not only the GDP per capita is double than the Italian average, but is one of the most productive regions in Italy where the 8.5% of the Italian companies contribute for 13.6% of national GDP.

CONFINDUSTRIA

Confindustria is the main association representing manufacturing and service companies in Italy, with a voluntary membership of more than 150,000 companies of all sizes, employing a total of 5,434,352 people. The association’s activities are aimed at raising the profile of businesses as key drivers of Italy’s economic, social and civil development.

NEW ROUTES

New flights from Venice to	Starting from	Weekly flights	Fare from*
Bristol	23/03/2016	4 (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun)	29 euro
Bordeaux	17/04/2016	3 (Tue, Thurs, Sun)
Copenhagen	24/03/2016	3 (Tue, Thurs, Sat)
Edimburgo	03/02/2016	4 (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun)
Olbia	24/03/2016	3 (Tue, Thurs, Sat)
Praga	04/02/2016	3 (Tue, Thurs, Sat)
Stoccarda	29/03/2016	3 (Tue, Thurs, Sat)
Minorca	28/06/2016	3 (Tue, Thurs, Sat)
Mykonos	01/07/2016	2 (Fri, Sun)
Santorini	27/06/2016	2 (Mon, Wed)

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. easyJet carries over 69 million passengers annually, of which around 12 million are travelling on business. easyJet flies over 240 aircraft on more than 810 routes to over 130 airports across 32 countries. More than 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 seven countries across Europe in full compliance with national laws and recognising their trade unions. The airline supports a number of local charities and also has a corporate partnership with UNICEF which has raised over £6m for the most vulnerable children since it was established in 2012.

The airline takes sustainability seriously. easyJet invests in the latest technology, operates efficiently and fills most of its seats which means that an easyJet passenger’s carbon footprint is 22% less than a passenger on a traditional airline, flying the same aircraft on the same route.

Innovation is in easyJet’s DNA – from our launch almost 20 years ago when we changed the way people fly to the present day where we lead the industry in digital, web, engineering and operational innovations to make travel more easy and affordable for our passengers.

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