In January budget airline easyJet said it would ramp up capacity across its network in a post-pandemic expansion and is now adding 22,000 extra seats on Liverpool routes. Tony McDonough reports
Low-cost airline easyJet is to add 22,000 seats to 12 of its routes to and from Liverpool John Lennon Airport this spring.
In January, easyJet said that by the end of summer, capacity across its Europe-wide route network would be back up close to 2019 levels – before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It operates 25 routes from Liverpool across summer and winter seasons.
This is fewer routes than the 30-plus out of Liverpool offered by rival Ryanair but it carries more passengers – almost 3m in 2019. The extra 22,000 seats are on sale now across 12 routes for services taking off between March 27 and April 30.
Those routes are Malaga, Alicante, Barcelona, Belfast, Bodrum, Dalaman, Faro, Geneva, Isle of Man, Jersey, Larnaca and Madrid. There are fares for £20.99 to Barcelona and Faro, £22.99 to Malaga and Geneva and £25.99 to Alicante.
Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK country manager, said: “We are delighted to be adding even more seats to our summer 2022 schedule, so that we can provide our customers in the North West of England with even more choice to enjoy.
READ MORE: Huge cost of halting airport growth
“We know that so many people have missed being able to holiday over the last two years and so it is a priority for many UK consumers. We are excited about our plans for next summer, which should see us return to near 2019 levels of flying and we can’t wait to welcome our customers back onboard.”
Robin Tudor, head of PR at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, added: “This is great news for passengers from across the region who can take advantage of these additional seats to a host of great destinations combined with the faster, easier, friendlier passenger experience that flying direct from Liverpool brings.”
EasyJet is operating more seats to European test-free destinations from the UK than any other airline now countries including Spain, Portugal, Greece, Germany, France, and Switzerland have removed testing for the fully vaccinated.