bealine
3rd Sep 2004, 06:44
What a lovely radio advert Easyjet's new one is - full of confidence, full of the message of a successful company undergoing expansion! The reality is somewhat different!
EasyJet to cut routes
EasyJet is to cut routes from Copenhagen because of high costs and from Milan for lack of attractive slots.
However, the no-frills carrier will add services to and from Estonia and Latvia, reported Reuters.
EasyJet said on Monday it was cutting services between Copenhagen and Newcastle and Bristol because the Danish state passenger tax and overall cost at Copenhagen's Kastrup airport made it more profitable to seek growth elsewhere.
"We are closing these routes to show the most expensive airports they need to lower their costs if they want to take part in passenger growth of low-cost carriers," easyJet said in a statement.
Copenhagen Airports, which operates Kastrup, said it was sorry to see the tail end of easyJet's Newcastle and Bristol business - currently at one flight per destination a day - but said it was unable to renegotiate contracts without the consent of all of its customers.
EasyJet said services between Tallinn and Berlin would begin at the end of October, between Tallinn and London's Stansted airport in early November and between Riga and Berlin in mid-November.
First Baltic services
The firm said that these services, easyJet's first to the Baltic states, were possible thanks to Estonia's and Latvia's entrance into the European Union in May.
The firm also said it will stop flying to Milan's Linate airport from London's Stansted in October, blaming the lack of slots at the airport.
"It is a problem of lack of available slots," said Toby Nicol, the head of corporate communications at easyJet.
"The problem is that we have negotiated (with the airport) and it hasn't worked. The airport should have been closed down years and years ago," he added.
Linate, a small airport close to Milan's city centre, is dwarfed by the city's more modern Malpensa airport.
The cut will take easyJet's London-Milan services from two flights a day to one, Nicol said.
EasyJet and other low-cost carriers such as Dublin-based Ryanair have complained about airport charges as they seek to cut costs due to intense competition and rising fuel costs.
EasyJet to cut routes
EasyJet is to cut routes from Copenhagen because of high costs and from Milan for lack of attractive slots.
However, the no-frills carrier will add services to and from Estonia and Latvia, reported Reuters.
EasyJet said on Monday it was cutting services between Copenhagen and Newcastle and Bristol because the Danish state passenger tax and overall cost at Copenhagen's Kastrup airport made it more profitable to seek growth elsewhere.
"We are closing these routes to show the most expensive airports they need to lower their costs if they want to take part in passenger growth of low-cost carriers," easyJet said in a statement.
Copenhagen Airports, which operates Kastrup, said it was sorry to see the tail end of easyJet's Newcastle and Bristol business - currently at one flight per destination a day - but said it was unable to renegotiate contracts without the consent of all of its customers.
EasyJet said services between Tallinn and Berlin would begin at the end of October, between Tallinn and London's Stansted airport in early November and between Riga and Berlin in mid-November.
First Baltic services
The firm said that these services, easyJet's first to the Baltic states, were possible thanks to Estonia's and Latvia's entrance into the European Union in May.
The firm also said it will stop flying to Milan's Linate airport from London's Stansted in October, blaming the lack of slots at the airport.
"It is a problem of lack of available slots," said Toby Nicol, the head of corporate communications at easyJet.
"The problem is that we have negotiated (with the airport) and it hasn't worked. The airport should have been closed down years and years ago," he added.
Linate, a small airport close to Milan's city centre, is dwarfed by the city's more modern Malpensa airport.
The cut will take easyJet's London-Milan services from two flights a day to one, Nicol said.
EasyJet and other low-cost carriers such as Dublin-based Ryanair have complained about airport charges as they seek to cut costs due to intense competition and rising fuel costs.