​easyJet celebrates the opening of its Porto base with two A320 aircraft and a doubling of routes 

 

easyJet, Europe’s leading airline, today celebrated the opening of its new base at Sa’ Carneiro Airport in Porto which will see the number of routes on offer double in the coming year.  

Carolyn McCall, Chief Executive of easyJet, cut the inaugural ribbon during today’s official ceremony at the new Porto base in the presence of Minister of Finance, Maria Luís Albuquerque, Secretary of State for Infrastructures, Transport and Communication, Sérgio Silva Monteiro, Secretary of State for Tourism, Adolfo Mesquita Nunes, VINCI’s President Nicolas Notebaert.

The airline has announced new routes to Bristol, London Luton, Luxembourg, Manchester, Nantes and Stuttgart which are now on sale. The new base allows easyJet to increase passenger choice with a range of twelve destinations. Leisure and business travellers can take advantage of easyJet’s quality of service - that includes great value fares, friendly cabin crew, digital leadership and leading punctuality on Europe’s best network connecting Europe's primary airports.

easyJet expects to increase its offer by more than 200’000 seats this summer thanks to the new routes, which is an incremental 28% year-on-year. easyJet’s total capacity in Porto will grow to more than 1 million seats annually. 

Carolyn McCall, Chief Executive of easyJet, said:

“Portugal is a really important market for easyJet. We have been flying to and from Portugal  for 18 years and today represents another important milestone in our history.” 

“We are really pleased to demonstrate our long-term commitment to Portugal with the opening of our second Portuguese base, following the launch of our Lisbon base in 2012.” 

“Establishing a base in Porto will create 80 new easyJet jobs, fully under Portuguese labour contracts, and support many more new jobs at the airport and in the surrounding region.  As importantly it will enable easyJet to increase the region’s connectivity with the rest of Europe and to make travel easy and affordable for those who wish to fly to and from this wonderful city.”

Javier Gandara, Country Director for Spain and Portugal, said: 

“easyJet is building on its success in Porto and the opening of our second base in Portugal is a key growth factor for the local economy, direct and indirect job creation and more choice of travels for business and leisure travellers at affordable fares and with a high standard  service that positions us as Portugal’s most punctual airline. We can now double our routes from Porto, offering a wider route portfolio also for families living abroad to connect with Porto. Porto welcomes hundreds of thousands of tourists every year and with more than 1.1 million seats available during the first year of operations, easyJet will allow more European tourist to visit Porto and its historic city centre, World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1996. An aircraft branded “Porto” will also start flying across our network promoting the city in various European countries”.

Maria Luís Albuquerque, Portugal Minister of State and Finance, said:  

“The opening of an easyJet base in Porto is yet another sign that the Portuguese economy is steadily recovering and becoming an increasingly attractive destination for investment. The establishment of new routes will certainly favour the tourism sector, but also facilitate business relations between Portugal and Europe, thus contributing to a deeper integration. Most importantly, this new base will lead to job creation, which is the ultimate goal of our country’s ongoing efforts.”

Nicolas Notebaert, VINCI Airports CEO, said:

“VINCI AIRPORTS maintains its commitment to develop airport infrastructure in Portugal, so as to contribute to the country’s growth in general and that of the regions where our airports are located. We are particularly pleased with Easyjet’s investment in the north of Portugal. VINCI Airports network is already working closely with easyjet. We hope to continue our work together, increase air traffic in Portugal, and focusing this year on the Lisbon - Ponta Delgada route. “ 

Porto is the 25th base of easyJet’s network. easyJet started its operations in Portugal in 1998 and flies now to 48 destinations in Europe being the third largest airline in the country with 12% market share and more than 4 million passengers carried in 2014. easyJet flies to Faro, Funchal, Porto and Lisbon and from 29 March a service will start connecting the capital with Ponta Delgada in Azores. 

easyJet new routes:

Route ​First flight​​​​​​​

Fares from

Porto - Nantes
(4 flights per week: Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat)
​30/03/2015 ​18,49€
Porto - Bristol
(3 flights per week: Wed, Fri, Sun)
​19/04/2015 ​22,49€
​Porto - Luton (London)
(3 flights per week: Tue, Thurs, Sun)
​26/04/2015 ​23,49€
Porto - Manchester
(3 flights per week: Tue, Thurs, Sun)
​24/05/2015 ​20,49€
Porto - Luxemburg
(3 flights per week: Tue, Thurs, Sun)
​04/06/2015 ​32,49€
Porto - Stuttgart​​​​​​​
(2 flights per week: Mon, Fri)
​05/06/2015 ​37,49€

 
 

PORTO KEY FACTS
• Operation launch: 2007. First Route operated June 2007 Geneva. Then October 2007 Basel.

• Base Opening: March 2015

• Aircraft on base: 2 Airbus A320

• Total destinations portfolio at low fares: 12 (including 6 new from 2015 to Nantes, Bristol, Luton, Manchester, Luxemburg, Stuttgart)

• Operated flights per week: up to 88 weekly during peak summer in 2015