01 Jul 2015

Carolyn McCall, CEO of easyJet, today commented on the recommendation by the Airports Commission that expansion in the south east of England should be at Heathrow Airport

Carolyn McCall, CEO of easyJet, today commented on the recommendation by the Airports Commission that expansion in the south east of England should be at Heathrow Airport:

"easyJet supports the Airports Commission's clear and unanimous recommendation and agrees that expansion at Heathrow will provide the greatest passenger and economic benefits, including lower fares by opening up the airport to increased competition. Expansion at Heathrow will bring significant benefits to all parts of the UK and is in the best interests of all passengers - both business and leisure, long and short haul.

"Expansion at Heathrow must be delivered sustainably. Local noise and environmental impacts need to be addressed and easyJet supports the Commission's recommendations on these issues.

"We now urge the Government to quickly proceed with the Commission's recommendation and start the work to increase the aviation capacity for the UK."

Carolyn McCall explained easyJet's plans at an expanded Heathrow:

"easyJet would open a base at Heathrow (in addition to our other existing London bases - Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and Southend) enabling easyJet to provide new routes and increase competition on dozens more UK and European routes.

"This would include new services to Inverness, Isle of Man and Jersey and increased services and more competition for Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Belfast as well as new and increased services for many other key cities including Amsterdam, Geneva and Zurich.

"easyJet's costs are significantly lower than legacy airlines so even allowing for an increase in charges at an expanded Heathrow easyJet's fares on these services would be lower than those paid by passengers today."

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For further information, please contact the easyJet Press Office on 01582 525252, log onto www.easyjet.com or follow @easyJet_Press

About easyJet:

easyJet is Europe's leading airline offering a unique and winning combination of the best route network connecting Europe's primary airports, with great value fares and friendly service.

easyJet flies on more of Europe's most popular routes than any other airline. easyJet carries over 66 million passengers annually, of which more than 12 million are travelling on business. easyJet flies over 230 aircraft on more than 750 routes to over 130 airports across 31 countries. More than 300 million Europeans live within one hour's drive of an easyJet airport.

easyJet aims to be a good corporate citizen, employing people on local contracts in seven countries across Europe in full compliance with national laws and recognising their trade unions. The airline supports a number of local charities and also has a corporate partnership with UNICEF which has raised over £4.5m for the most vulnerable children since it was established in 2012.

The airline takes sustainability seriously. easyJet invests in the latest technology, operates efficiently and fills most of its seats which means that an easyJet passenger's carbon footprint is 22% less than a passenger on a traditional airline, flying the same aircraft on the same route.

Innovation is in easyJet's DNA - from our launch almost 20 years ago when we changed the way people fly to the present day where we lead the industry in digital, web, engineering and operational innovations to make travel more easy and affordable for our passengers.

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