EasyJet announces Berlin expansion and new long-haul link-ups

EasyJet Europe, the sister airline set up to preserve easyJet after Brexit, has accelerated its growth by announcing a rapid expansion in Berlin and new long-haul connections at Paris and Amsterdam. The easyJet chief executive, Johan Lundgren, said: “There’s no doubt that the growth potential is in Europe. The UK will always be a critical market, but we have more to go at in the European mainland.” EasyJet expects to fly 5.6 million passengers this year from Berlin, making it comfortably the biggest airline in the German capital, ahead of Lufthansa. Lundgren added: “The German population has paid too much money to go on flights and that’s something we want to change.” The airline has been at Berlin’s Schönefeld airport since 2004 but started operations at the city’s Tegel facilities after taking over parts of Air Berlin in January. However, the new base may not last long, after Berlin’s Senate signaled this week it would ignore a referendum and close Tegel when the long-delayed Brandenburg airport finally opens, provisionally in 2020.