Taken from the local free sunday paper.
Easyjet deny plans to pull out of Luton
A PILOTS' website has started rumours that no-frills airline EasyJet is to pull out of Luton Airport.
But this speculation has been categorically denied by EasyJet officials who say the low-cost airline remains committed to the airport and has no intention of moving out of the town.
The rumour started to snowball after anonymous messages were posted on the PPRUNE website which is regularly used as a chatroom for professional pilots keen to swap gossip and rumours.
A 'story', which was posted on the site, also claims to have an exclusive interview with an anonymous EasyJet Manager who says the airline will outgrow Luton if it buys out rival airline, the former British Airways subsidiary Go.
But EasyJet says the 'story' is completely untrue.
A spokesman said: "This is rubbish. If we do successfully acquire Go then it may mean we can grow much quicker but that doesn't mean for one second that we will be pulling out of Luton Airport.
"Only last year we signed a 20-year commitment deal with the airport so we don't plan on going anywhere."
EasyJet is also in talks over buying out the British Airways German subsidiary DBA which has a fleet of 16 Boeing 737s and carried more than three million passengers in the last 12 months.
The Luton-based airline has already signed heads of terms with British Airways under which EasyJet will be granted an option to acquire DBA at any time up until March next year.
The company has already paid five million euros to DBA and has agreed to pay a further 39 million euros if the deal goes through.
EasyJet also announced this week, profits of £1 million before tax over the last six months.
This is the first time in the airline's history that a profit has been reported for the first half of the year which is traditionally loss-making.