easyJet adds three bases ahead of summer season
April 1, 2025
As easyJet gears up for what it promises to be its “largest ever UK summer season” – with seven more aircraft joining its UK fleet to serve 44 news routes – the airline is opening three new bases to help support its expansion.
London Southend took the title of the low cost carrier’s 10th base as of 31 March, with the three new A320neos stationed at the South London location to serve 122 flights a week across 20 routes to destinations across Europe and North Africa. Southend is the second new UK base for easyJet in as many years, driven by what the airline described as “UK demand for its flights and package holidays”. Having already served routes from the location to seven destinations, the establishment of a permanent base will enable greater network expansion; taking its total routes served from Southend to 20.
With easyJet responsible for a third of all UK leisure travel growth this summer, Southend is expected to drive 8% of this total, with more than 33 million total seats (half a million more than last year) operating to and from bases across the UK during the upcoming season. easyJet estimates Palma, Dalaman and Gran Canaria to be the most popular summer destinations for package holidays.
“The creation of wider employment for 1,200 jobs in the region, including 140 new jobs for airport colleagues, reflects the positive momentum we are seeing as we head into our biggest summer for six years,” revealed London Southend Airport CEO Jude Winstanley. “With immediately available capacity to support this growth, we’re excited to welcome even more passengers and provide greater choice and connectivity across Europe and beyond”.
Today, the opening of a new base at Italy’s Rome Fiumicino Airport “builds upon our 17-year history in Rome, during which we’ve had the privilege of carrying more than 30 million passengers to and from this magnificent city,” said easyJet CEO Kenton Jarvis. The airport will also host three based aircraft, offering 16 routes across Europe.
easyJet’s expansion plans were first confirmed in November 2024, with a further five aircraft to be based at Milan Linate. Approved by the European Commission as a ‘short haul remedy taker’ as part of the proposed acquisition of a stake in ITA Airways by Lufthansa, easyJet’s presence will help provide balanced and fair choices for consumers. Milan Malpensa will continue to be easyJet’s largest base in continental Europe.
As announced in November 2024, easyJet expects to see its strong financial performance bolstered by additional seat capacity of around 103 million seats for the current year (an increase of 3%), to which these new aircraft and bases will contribute.
