Low-cost carrier easyJet has just celebrated flying five million passengers to and from Birmingham Airport ahead of the airline opening a new base there. In March 2024, the budget airline will base both aircraft and crews at the airport for the first time adding a further 16 destinations to its network from the UK airport.
To mark reaching the five million passengers milestone, easyJet surprised two lucky passengers traveling with the company from Birmingham Airport with a pair of return flights to anywhere on easyJet’s network.
“With just 25 days to go until easyJet launch based operations at Birmingham Airport, it was a pleasure to present the five millionth easyJet passenger with their prize,” said Tom Screen, Aviation Director of Birmingham Airport. “Reaching this milestone is a testament to the ever-strengthening relationship between Birmingham Airport and easyJet.”
The airline originally started operations at Birmingham airport 17 years ago, flying its first customers from Birmingham (BHX) to Geneva (GVA) in 2007.
The airline first launched operations at Birmingham airport in 2007, flying its first customers from Birmingham also to Geneva. 17 years later, on March 18, 2024, the carrier will officially open its new three-aircraft base, enabling the airline to further expand its Birmingham network with 16 new routes taking off to destinations such as Antalya (AYT) in Turkey, Barcelona (BCN) in Spain and Sharm el Sheikh (SSH) in Egypt. The new base will mean that when all new routes are on stream, easyJet will connect customers in the UK Midlands to 29 destinations across the UK, Europe, and North Africa.
“We are delighted to celebrate carrying over five million passengers from Birmingham as we prepare to open our new base next month and start flying customers to even more destinations in the UK, Europe, and North Africa,” said Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK Country Manager.
“We remain focused on offering great value fares, convenient connections, and more choice for our customers in the Midlands, and we can’t wait to welcome them onboard,” he added.
The new base, which will be the airline’s first to open in the UK in more than a decade, will create around 100 new jobs for pilots and cabin crew, in addition to over 1,200 more indirect jobs.
The new base opening will also offer customers of easyJet Holidays, the airline’s sister company and the UK’s fastest-growing tour operator, be able to offer thousands more package holidays and city breaks from Birmingham. The new base will facilitate the expansion of the easyJet Holidays portfolio to offer breaks to over 100 European destinations and a choice of up to 5,000 hotels from Birmingham.