easyJet - Affordable as a pair of jeans
Budget airline easyJet was started up in 1995 by Greek entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou, when it was one of the first airlines to offer no-frills scheduled flights. Initially just working from a telephone booking centre at London Luton airport, their first online booking was made in April 1998. Soon after, easyJet was to pave the way for the boom in low cost air travel to Europe and it is now the 2nd largest budget airline. In 2007 they handled in the region of 37 million passengers.
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easyJet Routes and Destinations
From Britain, easyJet operates scheduled international flights from 11 UK airports:
Belfast, Bristol, Liverpool, London Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, Newcastle, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bournemouth. Domestic flights also depart from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Newcastle, Inverness. Liverpool, Jersey and the London airports. For the latest see: easyJet routemap.
EasyJet flies to primary European airports, with a good choice of cities particularly in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Recently they expanded into north Africa, with daily flights going to Marrakech from Gatwick.
They now have hub airports all over Europe and their number of European flight routes lies close to 400.
Low priced return airfares from £33 return...
If travelling to Amsterdam check prices starting at under £40 from 8 British airports.
There are some great value last minute bargains to Berlin Airport from Belfast, Newcastle, Luton, Gatwick and Bristol with fares as low as £33.
Our choice for a weekend away is Krakow from Liverpool and Luton from just £45.
There is a new low cost route to Pisa from Bristol from £46.
Fly direct to Athens for less than £70 rtn from London Luton or Gatwick airport.
Other Useful Information
| Booking |
All direct bookings are now handled via the internet. If the flight is less than 2 weeks away you can also book by telephone, this will be more expensive. No tickets are issued, your booking reference is needed for check-in.
EasyJet contact numbers: For telephone bookings and web support 0905 560 7777 (£1/min). For sales or changes to existing bookings only 0905 821 0905 (65p/min). Customer Services 0871 244 2366 (10p/min).
Credit/debit card bookings are subject to an extra fee, see: easyJet payment fees.
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| Check in |
Check-in desks are open 2 hours to 40 minutes before scheduled departure, gate boarding deadline is 25 minutes. Check-in early for the best seats. Online check-in is possible with hand luggage only, from 60 days to 2 hours before flight.
EasyJet does not operate a connecting flight service, their advice is to allow at least 2 hours for transfers. |
| Seats |
Easyjet seat pitch (legroom) is a small 29 inches, seat width is 17.5 inches. All seats are the same class, those who checked in earliest usually board first. Passengers board the aircraft like a bus and choose seats themselves, there can be a rush to get on. The easyJet Speedy Boarding option costs £5.50, this puts you at the front of the gate queue. |
| Baggage |
EasyJet baggage fee for checked-in baggage is £6 per bag, (this fee is only displayed during the booking process). Maximum allowance is 20 kg per person, but up to 50 kg is allowed on for an extra fee: Excess baggage weight costs £6 per kg prepaid, more if paid at airport. Any single piece must weigh no more than 32 kg. Hand luggage carries no weight restriction, but must be no larger than 55x40x20 cm. Sports equipment can travel for £16.50 prepaid, or £23 if paid at airport. Folding wheelchairs go free. |
| Flight Changes |
Name/date changes can be done online and cost £20 per change, plus any fare increase. Cancellation is possible only by telephone within 24 hours of making the original booking, cancellation fees are £20 per person per journey. For refunds, cancellations, enquiries call easyJet Customer Services. There is no customer email address.
For more information see: detailed regulations.
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| Food |
Inflight meals are not included, but drinks, sweets and snacks are sold on board.
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| Fleet |
In 2007 the easyJet fleet consists of 137 aircraft with average age of 2.7 years: 107 Airbus-A319 (156 seats), 30 Boeing-737 (149 seats). |
News
May 2008
Belfast to Gdansk flights scrapped. New routes London Gatwick to Nantes and Newcastle to Murcia take off.
April 2008
New easyJet flights Edinburgh to Nice.
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