easyJet Archives – London Air Travel

What To Expect From easyJet In 2019

What to expect from easyJet at London Gatwick in 2019.

easyJet Airbus aircraft (Image Credit: easyJet)

As easyJet approaches its 25th anniversary, the airline continues to mature to broaden its appeal to business and leisure passengers.

In keeping with its disciplined approach to cost and lean operations, this is largely through changing its offer on its website rather than physical changes to aircraft. Here’s a quick run through of what to expect at Gatwick in 2019.

New Frequent Flyer Programme

One of the biggest changes next year is the relaunch of easyJet’s frequent flyer programmes.

Currently, easyJet has two parallel schemes:

easyJet Plus is paid for membership scheme which offers free seat selection and fast track ground facilities.

Flight Club is an invitation only scheme for frequent flyers who book more than 20 flights a year with easyJet and are offered benefits such as free flight changes.

easyJet plans to relaunch its frequent flyer programmes next year with a new points based currency.

It will be behaviour led, to encourage activity that contribute to easyJet’s own bottom line. It will be possible to earn points in a variety of ways. This includes using certain online services or buying easyJet branded travel insurance. Third parties will also be invited to participate in the programme.

Points can then be redeemed on “exclusive rewards to enhance the trip” and reward flights for points and a cash payment. easyJet also suggests that the programme will have tiers which will provide additional benefits.

Separately, easyJet also plans to launch a corporate version of Flight Club for business customers. easyJet will also aim to improve its schedule for business travellers, most likely through the timing of “first wave” departures on key business routes from Gatwick.
Continue reading “What To Expect From easyJet In 2019”

easyJet launches Gatwick – Jerez de la Frontera & Zadar

easyJet will fly from Gatwick to Jerez de la Frontera and Zadar from April 2019.

London Air Travel » easyJet

easyJet is to launch another two new routes from London Gatwick to Jerez de la Frontera and Zadar.

easyJet will fly to Jerez de la Frontera in the Andalusia region of Spain three times weekly from Tuesday 2 April 2019. Flights operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

It will also fly to the coastal city of Zadar in Croatia twice weekly from Tuesday 30 April 2019. Flights operate on Tuesday and Saturday.

Flights are on sale now at easyJet.

easyJet launches London Gatwick – Dusseldorf

easyJet will fly from Gatwick to Dusseldorf from Saturday 9 February 2019.

London Air Travel » easyJet

easyJet is to launch a new route from London Gatwick to Dusseldorf.

The airline will fly to the city up to twice daily from Saturday 9 February 2019. The precise flight times vary by day, but on weekdays there are early morning and early evening departures from Gatwick.

Dusseldorf is also a convenient means of visiting Cologne, which easyJet does not serve from Gatwick, as you can catch a train from Dusseldorf airport to the city.

easyJet has also confirmed that it will suspend London Gatwick – Aberdeen from Friday 8 February 2019. easyJet will however continue to fly to Aberdeen daily from London Luton. This is a route whose performance seems inextricably linked to the health of oil industry traffic.

Flights are on sale now at easyJet.

easyJet To Relaunch Frequent Flyer Programmes

easyJet is to launch a new frequent flyer scheme in 2019 which promises new ways to earn and redeem points when flying with easyJet.

London Air Travel » easyJet

By far the most dominant frequent flyer currency in the UK is “Avios” used by British Airways, its fellow IAG airlines and many partners such as Flybe.

The sheer range of earning opportunities through flying and everyday expenditure as well as the redemption opportunities on flights from the UK, means that rival airlines struggle to offer a competitive alternative.

That may change next year. Virgin Atlantic will partner with Air France-KLM when the two combine their respective transatlantic joint-ventures with Delta into one.

easyJet also promises to relaunch its frequent flyer proposition next year.

Currently, easyJet has two parallel schemes, easyJet Plus and Flight Club.

easyJet Plus is paid for membership scheme which affords certain benefits such as free seat selection and fast track ground facilities.

Flight Club is a scheme for frequent flyers who book more than 20 flights a year with easyJet. They are invited to join at the discretion of the airline and afforded benefits such as free flight changes.

easyJet’s New Programme

easyJet intends to relaunch its frequent flyer programmes with a new currency where points can be earned in a range of ways.

The new programme will be announced next year and rolled out across Europe in 2020.

It will be behaviour led. It will be possible to earn points in a variety of ways, specifically those that contribute to easyJet’s bottom line. This includes using certain online services or buying easyJet branded financial services such as travel insurance. Third parties will also be invited to participate in the programme.

easyJet’s approach to loyalty to date is to focus on activities that generate additional revenue without adding significant expense or operational complexity. This is likely to continue. Do not expect a full blown replica of the Avios programme. However, easyJet clearly sees this as a means to win more passengers from legacy airlines.

What easyJet’s programme may lack compared to the Avios currency is an “aspirational” reward, such as business and First Class long-haul flights. However, given easyJet has a very extensive short-haul network from Gatwick, this is one we’ll keep a watching brief on.
Continue reading “easyJet To Relaunch Frequent Flyer Programmes”

easyJet’s “Imagine Where We Can Take You” TV ad campaign

easyJet has launched a new Europe wide multimedia advertising campaign based around the thought “Imagine Where We Can Take You.”

London Air Travel » easyJet

easyJet has launched a new Europe wide advertising campaign based around the thought “Imagine Where We Can Take You.”

In a TV advertisement we see a passenger gaze out of the window mid-flight. Through the mind of the passenger, the viewer is transported in a dream-like sequence to a range of ski, beach and city destinations, interwoven with easyJet’s signature colour orange.

It is noteworthy this ad does not mention price, traditionally easyJet’s main selling point. It focuses on the emotional appeal of the brand and the strapline “Generation easyJet”. This is a sign of much the easyJet brand has developed and matured in its near 25 year history.

It is also no accident that a close-up of a female pilot is featured as easyJet is actively campaigning to increase the number of female pilots.

The ad was made by the agency VCCP. It was directed by The Sacred Egg of Riff Raff Films. The soundtrack to the advert is Cat Power “Dreams”.

The ad launches on UK TV tonight, Friday 14 September 2018, during “Gogglebox” on Channel 4.

With Virgin Atlantic also launching a “Masterbrand” ad campaign this weekend, we can’t help but notice it is also exactly five years since BA ran a major brand led TV campaign with its “Today Tomorrow” TV ad. A new Masterbrand campaign from BA is long overdue.

easyJet to launch frequent flyer programme “Flight Club”

London Air Travel » easyJet

The narrowing of the gap between the traditional “full service” network airlines and low cost carriers continues as easyJet has today announced it is to launch its first frequent flyer programme “Flight Club” across Europe in 2016.

Details are scant at the moment, but at first glance it does not appear to be a traditional miles-accrual based programme.

Instead, Flight Club, offers a defined set of benefits based on eligibility criteria.

Passengers will be invited to join Flight Club based on a minimum number of easyJet flights taken in a 12 month period and/or minimum spend.

In return, passengers will receive benefits such as fee-free ticket & name changes, special offers and access to a dedicated contact team.

There’s no news of any other airline or hotel partners yet. This programme will also run in parallel to easyJet Plus.

What information is available is contained in this easyJet press release.

easyJet provides a glimpse into the future with its Innovation Day

London Air Travel » easyJet

easyJet held its “Innovation Day” today at Milan Malpensa airport.

The airline has outlined a series of innovations under consideration to improve the operating efficiency of the airline and improve the passenger experience.

These include the use of automated drones to perform visual inspections of aircraft (video below), the use of 3D printing to produce spare parts, virtual reality technology in cabin crew training, and (in partnership with Airbus) the use of real-time flight information to predict aircraft maintenance requirements.

Passengers affected by disruption will also be able to book hotels (paid for by easyJet) on a new easyJet smartphone app.
Continue reading “easyJet provides a glimpse into the future with its Innovation Day”

easyJet to add an extra row of seats to Airbus A320 aircraft

London Air Travel » easyJet

Just as British Airways finishes retro-fitting extra rows of its seats to its much of its London Heathrow short-haul fleet, the quest for ever more dense seating configurations on short-haul flights in Europe continues.

easyJet has today announced that it is to add an extra row of seats to all of its Airbus A320 aircraft.

This will increase the number of seats from 180 to 186. It is understood that the amount of leg room will remain the same and the extra seats will be accommodated through reconfigured galley and toilet spaces. By way of a comparison, BA has 162 seats on an equivalent sized aircraft.

The new configuration will apply to deliveries of new aircraft from May 2016. It will be retrofitted to existing A320 aircraft from late 2016. The programme should be complete by 2018. In the interim, easyJet will continue to take delivery of new aircraft with 180 seats. It is due to receive 20 new Airbus A320s this year.

The Airbus A320 aircraft represents approximately one third (81 of 230 aircraft) of easyJet’s fleet, with the remainder being smaller Airbus A319 aircraft.

What is perhaps most noteworthy is what easyJet hasn’t done. The airline has introduced a number of measures to increase its appeal to business and premium leisure travellers by introducing allocated seating, flexible tickets and fast-track ground facilities. However, it has stopped short of introducing a fully dedicated business class cabin to compete directly with BA Club Europe and equivalent products from other European airlines – including fellow low cost airlines Vueling and Germanwings.

Middle East Conflict: Rebooking options for Tel Aviv flights

London Air Travel » easyJet

Following recent events in the Middle East, both US and a large number of European airlines had suspended flights to Tel Aviv on the basis of advice from regulators in the US and Europe.

The Federal Aviation Administration in the US and the European Aviation Safety Agency have subsequently changed their guidance.

British Airways continues to fly to Tel Aviv twice daily from London Heathrow. easyJet has resumed flights from London Luton and London Gatwick to Tel Aviv.

BA is allowing passengers booked to fly to Tel Aviv up to 25 July 2014 to rebook on any flight up to 7 August 2014. No refunds are available.

easyJet was also offering passengers the opportunity to rebook that but this seems to have been withdrawn.

easyJet expands at Gatwick whilst BA seeks to regain lost ground

London Air Travel » easyJet

London Gatwick Airfield (Image Credit: London Gatwick Airport)

easyJet posted a good set of financial results last week solidifying its transition from an upstart low cost carrier to a mature pan-European short-haul airline.

The airline also announced a significant expansion at London Gatwick. This has been aided by its acquisition earlier this year of Flybe’s portfolio of slots at Gatwick which now gives easyJet nearly 50% of take off and landing slots at the airport.

New easyJet routes

In addition to recent route launches to cities such as Bergen and Moscow, next year easyJet will launch new routes to Brussels, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Jersey, Newcastle and Strasbourg. The airline will also increase frequencies by one flight a day on routes to Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Geneva, Inverness and the Isle of Man.

Continue reading “easyJet expands at Gatwick whilst BA seeks to regain lost ground”