EasyJet has opened its 19th base at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) as part of a ”600m ($880m) drive to strengthen its position as the second largest airline in the country after Air France.
Three new Airbus A319 aircraft will be based at CDG and will serve an additional six routes from the airport ” Hamburg, Krakow, Venice, Biarritz, Porto and Marrakesh. The carrier is adding 23 new routes, doubling services in the country and aiming to carry 12m passengers in 2011 compared to last year”s 6m.
On 4 April, the airline will open a third French base in Lyon, the country”s second largest economic centre, as part of a huge push in this market of which it currently has a 6% share, second to Air France”s 55%. Four new French airports will also feature shortly in its network, namely Nantes from March, Montpellier from May, and on Corsica, the two airports of Bastia (Gatwick, weekly) and Ajaccio (Gatwick, weekly).
”With a low-cost penetration that is half the European average, France”s air transport market still suffers from a lack of affordable, direct air links and therefore offers huge opportunities for us,” said easyJet chief executive Andy Harrison.
EasyJet already has a base (with six aircraft) at the French capital”s second airport at Orly, but it is so slot-constrained that there was no opportunity for the carrier to expand ” but it may well be more of a challenge at CDG to implement the low-cost model.