Easyjet launches Belfast-Spain service

COMPETITION among airlines offering flights to Spain intensified yesterday with Easyjet announcing it would begin flights out of Belfast Airport to Alicante and Malaga.

The move by Easyjet comes a day after rival Ryanair said it will begin a service from Dublin Airport to Reus, which is near the tourist resort of Salou, from the end of next month.

Easyjet will begin four new routes out of Belfast this summer, it announced yesterday. The budget airline said it will fly from Belfast to Malaga and Alicante five times a week from late June. It will fly daily to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and fly five times a week between Belfast and Nice.

The expansion from Easyjet’s Northern Ireland base will increase the number of routes offered by around 50%, with 13 destinations now available.

The French services have been made possible as a result of the Air Route Development Scheme initiated by Northern Ireland ministers.

“The introduction of this initiative means consumers in Northern Ireland now have more opportunities to travel throughout Europe ... and there will be great benefits to the local economy as increasing numbers of Europeans travel to Belfast as a destination,” Easyjet’s chief executive Ray Webster said.

The expansion of its Northern Ireland base will create up to 200 new jobs.

Meanwhile, Irish start-up carrier FlyJetGreen has begun to advertise its daily service from Dublin to Malaga and Alicante with flights starting at €1 ex-tax.

Consumers will be the beneficiaries of the expansion of services with prices across most airlines expected to fall this year because of competition.