UK-based low-cost carrier, EasyJet, announced it would launch its seventh base in western France, at the Nantes Atlantique Airport.
The British budget airline company stated it would station three A320s at its new base at Nantes Atlantique Airport from spring 2019.
The French aviation market is EasyJet’s biggest base outside the United Kingdom.
Therefore, France remains a key component of the airline’s strategy. The latest expansion emphasizes this.
Inaugurating a new base at Nantes Atlantique Airport, with three A320 aircraft, will bring the airline’s total capacity in France to over 22 million seats.
Nantes, out of 22 million passengers, will represent 1.8 million, starting next spring, an increase of 400,000 additional seats.
Market maturity, local customer loyalty, and EasyJet’s existing and future network size will make the British carrier number one airline in terms of total flights offered from Nantes Atlantique Airport, said Johan Lundgren, chief executive of EasyJet.
EasyJet Partners With French Tourism Development Agency
In an unprecedented move, EasyJet teams up with the French Tourism Development Agency, Atout France.
They did it to promote French cities in the rest of Europe.
The experiential, multi-media marketing campaign, with a projected spend of €1 million, will involve outdoor advertising, digital advertising, social media promotion, and various tourism-related events throughout Europe.
EasyJet’s three-year partnership program with Atout France will attract more tourists to cities like Paris, Nice, Côte d’Azur, and Nantes, boosting the overall tourism sector.
EasyJet Plans Its New Base In Nantes To Support The Increased Traffic
Parking three A320s at Nantes Atlantique Airport will open a variety of possible destinations, said François Bacchetta, the French General Manager of EasyJet, recruited to be the company’s interlocutor in France with airports and authorities.
Departure schedules will also broaden, added Bacchetta, as the A320s will sleep in Nantes.
EasyJet, from Spring 2019, expects to launch a dozen new destinations from its new base in Nantes.
This will give the citizens of western France an opportunity to access major European cities.
More weekend destinations in Europe will benefit the tourists, while augmented domestic and international flight options will meet the demand of business travellers, intending to avail same-day return trips.
The development is great news for the airport and the region, said the director of Nantes-Atlantique, François Marie.
EasyJet Promises To Create New Jobs
After Air France, EasyJet is the second-largest airline in France, in terms of jobs.
The airline’s new base at Nantes Atlantique Airport will not only stimulate the tourism sector, but it will also supercharge the entire economy by creating more jobs.
EasyJet, through more regular flight services, will create 100 new direct jobs, and at least 500 indirect jobs, including cabin crew, air hostesses, technicians, and pilots.
Besides local employment, professionals from around the world will visit Nantes to work and live, making the city their second home.
In addition, the new EasyJet base at Nantes Atlantique Airport will strengthen the aviation sector in France’s western region, which will energize the industrial and commercial hubs in Nantes.