Children’s newspaper First News made available to all UK passengers onboard easyJet

• easyJet is partnering with award-winning children’s newspaper First News, offering all UK passengers a free subscription to the digital newspaper when they fly
• The offer will be available to passengers from 7th February in time for February half-term, to keep kids engaged and entertained on board
• Thousands of families are set to jet off this half term, with Spain, Switzerland, and France proving to be among the most popular destinations
• Research by the National Literacy Trust revealed only 3 in 10 children* (30%) are reading daily

London, UK, 2022-Feb-01 — /Travel PR News/ — Europe’s leading airline easyJet is teaming up with award-winning children’s weekly newspaper First News, to offer two month’s free subscription for all its UK passengers flying this half term, to help keep young flyers entertained and engaged during their travels.

Thousands of families are set to jet off with easyJet during the February half-term, with Spain, Switzerland, France, and Italy proving to be among the most popular destinations for a spring family break. To help make travel easy for parents and children alike, the airline and First News are teaming up to offer a free two-month subscription to the digital edition.

Fun to read and providing access to factual, impartial news and entertainment expertly written by award-winning journalists, First News will take younger travellers on a virtual trip round the world with every read, inspiring conversation, fuelling curiosity and sparking debate. Jam-packed with age-appropriate articles, eye-catching photos and bursting with interviews, boredom-busting puzzles, games and competitions it promises to engage and entertain, however long the flight.

Between 7th February and 28th February all UK customers flying with easyJet will have the opportunity to enjoy a free two-month digital subscription to the weekly newspaper.

Passengers will be able to get access to their free two-month subscription via details in easyJet’s digital inflight Traveller Magazine as well as on selected boarding cards, meaning passengers can download First News before take-off on their personal devices and get access to the latest issue to enjoy onboard their flight.

The collaboration comes following research from the charity, National Literacy Trust*, which found that 3 in 10 children and young people are reading daily in their free time, the lowest it has been since the beginning of the pandemic. easyJet has long championed reading for young travellers, encouraging children to get hooked on a book as part of its three-year summer flying library the ‘Flybrary’ – providing children’s books to borrow onboard across thousands of flights since 2017 – and most recently last summer helping young flyers to explore different languages onboard through its free Mizzi Mozzi language learning e-books.

Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK Country Manager commented:

“The return of test free travel in time for the half term break will be welcome news for so many families. We are always striving to ensure we make travel easy and fun for young flyers and our partnership with First News is another initiative designed to help to get kids flying with us get engaged in reading during the holidays, which we believe will be popular with parents and children alike.

“With low fares from just £9.99, so many fantastic destinations to choose from and leading flexibility, now is a great time to book with easyJet. We can’t wait to welcome our customers back onboard.”

Nicky Cox MBE, Editor-in-Chief of First News said:

“We are delighted to be partnering with easyJet, who share our passion for getting young people reading.  Expertly written by experienced, unbiased journalists, First News gives children access to factual, impartial news and entertainment from the UK and around the world.  First News is at the forefront of ensuring children have access to reliable, trustworthy and age-appropriate news curated especially for them. It takes the fear out of sensationalised world events that children hear, giving them a balanced and truthful view of the world, carefully, and sensitively, explaining the background to stories in the news. In our news coverage, First News counters over-reported negative news in other areas of the media by showing that there is much more good news in the world, than bad – and many more good people, than bad. First News gives children a voice about the issues they care about. While children make up 27% of the world’s people, they are 100% of the future. They can be agents of that future, all they need is the power of knowledge.”

A National Literacy Trust study into First News concluded that children that read the newspaper made better than expected progress in their reading. The NLT also said: Children highlighted the fact that First News is fun, interesting, easy to read and understand, very informative and above all, they appreciate the fact that it is aimed at children and made relevant to and appropriate for them.

To ensure it is as easy as possible for families to travel with easyJet, the airline has a number family-friendly policies place, from priority boarding for passengers travelling with children under 5 years old, to allowing up to two additional items to brought on board at no additional cost, and, if customers need these items to get to the gate, such as a push chair, these can be then placed in cabin or hold when families arrive at the gate, free of charge. To find out more visit https://www.easyjet.com/en/help/boarding-and-flying/flying-with-children.

Notes to editors

Stats:

‘An Evaluation of the First News Reading Package, Clémence Pabion and Christina Clark, July 2015’ https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/children-and-young-peoples-reading-engagement-in-2021/ or https://schools.firstnews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/products/newspaper/First_News_evaluation_report_2015_NLT_final_100915.pdf

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 96 million passengers in 2019 – more than 16 million travelling for business. The airline has over 300 aircraft on nearly 1000 routes to more than 150 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 over £14m for the most vulnerable children since it was established in 2012.

The airline takes sustainability seriously and is committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions flying by 2050. Together with its partners, including Airbus, Rolls-Royce, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Wright Electric, easyJet is working to accelerate the development of zero-emission aircraft technology. In the meantime, the airline is offsetting the carbon emissions from the fuel used for all its flights, at no additional cost to its customers, and only supports projects that are certified by Gold Standard or the Verified Carbon Standard, internationally recognised certification schemes. In addition, easyJet continues to renew its fleet, operate efficiently, and aims to fill most of its seats. Since 2000, over a 20-year period, the airline reduced its carbon emissions per passenger, per kilometre by over one-third, and aims to bring this down further.

Innovation is in easyJet’s DNA – since launching over 25 years ago, easyJet changed the way people fly to the present day where the airline leads the industry in digital, web, engineering and operational innovations to make travel more easy and affordable for its passengers.

The airline was named as Britain’s Most Admired Company of 2020 in the transport sector, retaining the leading position for a second year running. Britain’s Most Admired Companies study is the longest-running annual survey of corporate reputation in the UK.

About First News

First News gives every child access to trusted news and inspires them to change the world. First News is the fun-to-read, multi-award-winning children’s newspaper delivered to your door and digitally across all devices every week. First News gives children access to factual, impartial news and entertainment from the UK and around the world expertly written by award-winning journalists!  First News promises to educate and entertain with every read. A subscription to First News gives a child the knowledge to help them learn, debate and think critically about the world around them and their place within it. www.firstnews.co.uk

Contact:

Press Office
01582 525252
www.easyJet.com
@easyJet_Press

Source: easyJet

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