The European Commission has approved the assignment of 18 slots at Lisbon Airport, previously owned by TAP Air Portugal, to easyJet. With the added slots, easyJet has become the airport’s second largest carrier.
On Thursday (June 16, 2022), easyJet announced that the European Commission has approved the assignment of 18 slots at Lisbon Airport, previously owned by TAP Air Portugal, to easyJet. As a result, easyJet is now the second largest carrier at the airport, and will offer a wider choice of destinations and affordable fares for travelers to and from the Portuguese capital. easyJet will deploy additional capacity enabled by the new slots from October 2022. The airline has operated in Portugal since 1998 and opened their Lisbon base in 2012, which employs around 500 team members under local contracts. Currently, easyJet serves five airports in Portugal including Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Funchal and Porto Santo.
In Thursday’s announcment, easyJet’s Country Manager – Portugal, Jose Lopes, said,
“We are really pleased with the European Commission’s decision to assign 18 new slots at Lisbon airport to easyJet. This will enable us to keep growing significantly in one of our most important markets. In the past two challenging years Portugal proved to play a crucial role in supporting our strategy; aside from being one of our customers’ favourite destinations across our entire network. We are also excited to become Lisbon’s #2 carrier, which is testament to our Portuguese customers’ loyalty throughout the years.
“With more than 27 million passengers carried to and from Portugal in the last 26 years, we proudly have proudly supported the democratisation of local air transport in Portugal, enabling more and more Portuguese people to travel conveniently and seamlessly across Europe. This wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our people who represent a key factor in our success.”
easyJet carries nearly 100 million passengers annually on around 1,000 routes to over 150 airports in 35 countries. The airline has a fleet of over 300 aircraft, and over 300 million Europeans live within an hour’s drive of an airport served by easyJet. The 25 plus year old low-cost carrier is dedicated to innovation and leads the industry in digital, web, engineering and operational efficiencies. easyJet was named “Britain’s Most Admired Company” in the transport sector for 2020, based on the longest running annual corporate reputation study in the UK.
Source: easyJet