easyJet celebrates its historic deal with Airbus ‎

easyJet, the UK’s largest and France’s second largest airline, has commemorated the deal it agreed last June with Airbus for 135 Airbus A320 aircraft in Paris today, with an official signing ceremony. Attending the ceremony were Carolyn McCall, chief executive of easyJet, Frédéric Cuvillier, Minister of Transport, Hunting and Fishing and Fabrice Brégier, CEO and President of Airbus. 

Carolyn McCall, easyJet CEO, commented:"I am delighted to be in Paris alongside Frederic Cuvillier, Minister of Transport and Fabrice Brégier, CEO and President of Airbus to commemorate the easyJet order for 35 current generation aircraft and 100 A320neo new generation aircraft. 

“The order will help to sustain around 10,000 manufacturing jobs across France and Europe. These aircraft will also bring important environmental benefits through a significant improvement in fuel efficiency and a reduction in noise. 

“easyJet is the second largest airline in France and a key player in the French economy. Having flown more than 100m passengers to and from France since 1998, easyJet aims to continue this growth and attract in excess of 15 million passengers this year in France.” 

‎easyJet is the fourth largest airline in Europe with a current fleet of 217 Airbus A319s and A320s and has taken delivery of 245 Airbus aircraft in total. easyJet's Airbus order is the largest placed by any European airline to date. 

Fabrice Brégier, CEO and President of Airbus, declares:“This order confirms easyJet as one of Airbus’ biggest single aisle customers, and its status as one of Europe’s leading carriers. This order secures several thousand Airbus jobs in our home countries of France, Germany, Spain and the UK. This is great news for easyJet, for Airbus and for the wider European aviation sector”. 

easyJet will launch 24 new routes in France this year, strengthening its regional bases in Nice and Toulouse, alongside a 30% expansion in Bordeaux and the opening of two new network points - Strasbourg and Figari. In total, the company will offer in France 180 routes from 18 airports. Today, more than 1 in 5 of easyJet’s passengers takes off or lands in France. More than 10% of easyJet's fleet is based in France at Paris Charles de Gaulle, Paris Orly, Lyon St Exupery, Nice and Toulouse. 

easyJet carries more than 60 million passengers each year, 11 million of which are business passengers. The airline operates on almost 700 routes between more than 130 airports across more than 30 countries.