Low cost airline airline easyJet is set to fly thousands of people into Liverpool for the Eurovision Song Contest in May and has been announced as a sponsor of the event. Tony McDonough reports

Low-cost airline easyJet is to be a national sponsor for the Eurovision Song Contest which takes place in Liverpool on Saturday, May 13.

Celebrations for the event, which takes place at the M&S Bank Arena on the waterfront, begin more than a week before. Liverpool City Council is setting up a ‘Eurovision Village’ at the Pier Head from Friday May 5.

Operating routes to 26 European destinations from Liverpool, easyJet says it expects to fly thousands of people into the city on the days leading up to the music extravaganza, which Liverpool is hosting in place of Ukraine, last year’s winners.

There are 360 easyJet pilots and crew based at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, along with six aircraft. The airline launched its operations here in 1997 and last year flew 2m people to and from the city.

Robert Birge, chief customer and marketing officer at easyJet, said: “This sponsorship is a perfect match.

“Not only do we offer more seats between the UK and Eurovision countries than any other airline, but we also have a long history with the host city of Liverpool and are the city’s largest airline.

“Like this iconic competition, easyJet connects people, cultures and communities across Europe and beyond and so we are delighted to be a National Sponsor of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, in collaboration with BBC Studios.”

Earlier this week easyJet said summer flight and holiday bookings were exceeding expectations leading the carrier to raise its full year profit forecasts.

During the Easter weekend easyJet saw passenger numbers hit 2019 levels as it operated an average of 1,600 flights a day. This was despite French air traffic control strikes.

In a trading update on Tuesday, the airline said it flew 15.6m passengers between January and March. This was up from 11.5m a year earlier. Its load factor, which measures percentage of seats filled, improved to 88% from 78%.