EASYJET is to launch its first medium-haul flights from Liverpool John Lennon Airport (JLA) from November, when it begins flying to the Canary Isles.
The airline, which now flies to 25 destinations from Liverpool, will launch routes to Fuerteventura and Lanzarote in November. Currently Easyjet only flies to London and Madrid from the Canary Isles.
Carly Brear, Easyjet’s UK commercial manager, said: “This route comes as a direct commitment of ours to continue to enhance our destinations at Liverpool to meet customer demand.
“I have every faith these two routes will be extremely popular with our loyal North West customer base. I look forward to continuing to build on our strong relationship with both Fuerteventura and Lanzarote to boost tourism to these islands.”
Her comments are in stark contrast to the actions of rival airline Ryanair, which stopped flying to Fuerteventura in January after it alleged the local tourism group AIE breached an agreement. The Irish carrier closed all of its 23 weekly services on nine routes.
The routes are the first medium-haul flights – over three hours in duration – offered by Easyjet from JLA.
It will fly to Fuerteventura on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday and to Lanzarote on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
Neil Pakey, deputy chief executive of Peel Airports Group, said: “We are delighted Easyjet are continuing to increase their choice of destinations from Liverpool. For our customers, it is into the blue sky and blue sea this winter with these fantastic new destinations.”
Tourism representatives from both islands were also keen to stress the respective charms of their destinations.
Agueda Montelongo, minister of tourism of Fuerteventura, said: “For Fuerteventura, the new route is great news. People of the North West now have even more opportunity to enjoy our unique destination – the best beaches in Europe and sunny weather the whole year round, plus now a complementary leisure offer for all tastes.”
Héctor Fernández Manchado, manager from the Tourist Board of Lanzarote, added: “I want to celebrate the new route between Liverpool and Lanzarote . Lanzarote is an ideal destination for the entire family because it offers a very wonderful landscape, various beaches of white sand and transparent water.”
Easyjet also said it will be replacing one of its existing A319 aircraft with an A320, which will mean there will be 174 seats on each flight on these routes.
