easyJet inaugurates its new base in Bordeaux

Bordeaux is easyJet’s sixth base in France

• easyJet has flown 10m passengers to and from Bordeaux since the start of operations in 2006.
• Increase in investment by 21% vs last year resulting in 9 new destinations and more flights on existing routes.
• easyJet will base three Airbus A320 aircraft creating over 110 local jobs in the first year of operations and hundreds more being created in the wider local economy.

easyJet, Europe’s leading airline, today celebrated the opening of its 30th base in Europe at Bordeaux Airport. France continues to be a central part of easyJet’s strategy and the decision is aimed to build on its leading #1 and #2 positions in key French airports.

Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet and Francois Bacchetta, easyJet’s France Director, celebrated this important milestone in the airline’s French expansion plan during a ceremony attended by the President of Bordeaux Airport, Pascal Personne.

Since easyJet started flying to Bordeaux with a flight from London Luton in 2006, it has carried 10 million passengers to and from the airport. Thanks to the three new Airbus A320 aircraft based at Bordeaux, easyJet is able to offer over 400,000 extra seats this summer, meaning nearly 400 indirect jobs(*) added to the 1,800 ones already created with the airline’s operation at Bordeaux so far.

Therefore, easyJet’s investment has grown by 21% in 2018 reaching 2.4 million seats on sale which means more choice for the passengers departing from Bordeaux, more regular services to popular destinations and more affordable fares.

To celebrate the new base, easyJet unveiled an aircraft with a special livery featuring Bordeaux’s iconic grapes that will help to promote the city across the 33 countries easyJet flies to. Last weekend, it also turned Bordeaux orange and surprised 45 participants at the unique night ‘Marathon de Bordeaux’ who were lucky enough to pass the finish line within the exact same time of our flights to some of the new exciting destinations from Bordeaux, offering them a chance to discover Catania, Heraklion and Tel Aviv.

Speaking from Bordeaux, easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren‎, commented:

“I am very pleased to be here celebrating our new base in Bordeaux. My priority is to help easyJet to continue to go from strength to strength and our expansion in France, our largest European market where one quarter of all easyJet passengers start or finish their journey, supported by today’s new base, entirely supports this aim."

easyJet has been operating to and from Bordeaux for twelve years now. From one route in 2006 we have now become the airline that offers more domestic and international connections than anyone else at this airport, with a market share of nearly 30% and many destinations previously unserved.

“We love Bordeaux and we have been investing and working hard together with the airport to continue to offer Bordelaise passengers a great service through an efficient infrastructure and affordable fares, increasing their travel options as well as their connectivity for both leisure and business.

With the new base, we have really become part of the local community as we have over 110 pilots and cabin crew now based here, together with a dedicated management team, to operate three A320 Airbus aircraft, all under local labor contracts, and hundreds additional jobs being created in the wider local economy.”

Francois Bacchetta, easyJet’s France Director added:

“Our growth in the French regions is helping to connect Bordeaux with the rest of Europe (69%) alongside domestic destinations (31%) where people have no other option than flying. We are very confident the new base will be a success, introducing three new city routes (Luxembourg, Tel Aviv and London Southend), five new beach routes (Catania, Faro, Heraklion, Ibiza and Rhodes) and one domestic (Bastia), allowing us to attract a greater variety of customers.

France is our second biggest market and we see great loyalty and a strong appetite for direct flights to short haul destinations, especially domestics where we will be adding 25% capacity this year.

This investment will also reinforce our commitment to support business travelers’ demand expanding our domestic routes, and allowing them daily return trips to three business centers (Geneva, London, Lyon) with early departures in the morning.

More importantly, thanks to a coordinated effort with the airport to develop a lean and efficient infrastructure, we keep improving our customer experience at billi terminal, and will introduce Fast Track to easyJet Plus and Flexi fares passengers, facilitating security checks for our 19% business travelers out of Bordeaux.”

Bordeaux represents over 11% of the total operation of easyJet in France and the new base together with the expansion across the other French airports brings easyJet’s total capacity in France to 22 million seats, an increase of 6% versus 2017.

Pascal Personne, Head of Bordeaux Airport commented:

“easyJet based operations are located in Bordeaux Airport, billi terminal, offering the company scope for development. The international potential of Bordeaux’s flight network is huge but has grown already quite a lot, thanks to easyJet.

Low cost flights in Bordeaux represented 3 million passengers in 2017, which is almost 50% of airport traffic. billi traffic will potentially grow by 50% before 2021.

easyJet will undoubtedly be the main driver of this growth. billi has been reassessed to accommodate the increase in traffic generated by the opening of the base but we are already working on the 2021 expansion.”

Alain Juppe’, Former Prime Minister and Mayor of Bordeaux said:

"I’m very excited that easyJet has chosen Bordeaux to implement its new base and develop its operations. All existing routes and those to be launched will help connect our city on an international scale.

This new step is a strong demonstration of the economical and touristic traction of Bordeaux. It’s also the outcome of regular investments throughout the years from the city and constant efforts from local communities and businesses.

We look forward to welcoming new visitors thanks to easyJet. Congratulations for this local investment and to Bordeaux Airport for a well-driven strategy, especially with billi terminal.”

* Airports Council International (ACI) estimates that every 1m passengers carried, 1,000 local jobs are created.

Notes to Editors

Facts on Nouvelle Aquitaine Region

1. Bordeaux catchment area is called South West, with 5.911 million inhabitants living in this region (officially called Nouvelle-Aquitaine).
2. Bordeaux has a solid GDP per capita (€36.2 k) level comparable to regional cities such as Toulouse, Nantes and Nice. Growth (CAGR) is forecasted at around +1.0% over the next 10 years.
3. With around 374,000 companies, representing 8.6% of total companies in France, Nouvelle Aquitaine is one of the most productive regions in France (5th). The region knew a fast growth with 27,359 new companies in 2016 (4th) and created an added value of €143 million (2nd) in 2014.
4. Nouvelle Aquitaine is the 7th biggest French region in terms of exports for a total of €22.4 billion. However, exports grew by 1% in 2016 making the Nouvelle Aquitaine having the 3rd largest growth.
5. For this reason, Nouvelle Aquitaine has a very high capacity of evelopment through air transport. Nouvelle-Aquitaine represents 8.5% of the French tourism consumption (5th), it is also the second tourist destination of French inhabitants.
6. Examples of South West big companies: Dassault Aviation, Thales.

New routes

• Bastia, 2 weekly from 26/06 to 01/09 from 33€
• Catania, 3 weekly from 26/04 to 27/10 from 31€
• Faro, 4 weekly from 27/04 to 26/10 from 28€
• Heraklion, 2 weekly from 27/06 to 01/09 from 35€
• Ibiza, 3 weekly from 26/06 to 02/09 from 29€
• Luxembourg, 4 weekly from 26/06 to 26/10 from 29€
• Rhodes, 1 weekly from 02/05 to 26/10 from 35€
• Tel Aviv, 1 weekly from 28/04 to 27/10 from 46€
• London Southend, 3 weekly from 25/07 to 26/10 from 28€

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 81 million passengers annually, of which more than 13 million are travelling on business. easyJet flies over 280 aircraft on more than 980 routes to over 150 airports across 33 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 £10m 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 over 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.