EasyJet launches four new Belfast routes

Budget airline easyJet is launching four new routes out of Belfast this week, it announced today.

A £120m (€171.5m) investment will see a sixth aircraft being based in Belfast and the creation of around 50 jobs.

Twice weekly flights to Gdansk in Poland start tomorrow, followed by flights to Prague four times a week and Venice twice a week on Thursday.

Flights three times a week to Barcelona begin on Saturday.

The services increase to 23 the number of destinations the airline offers from Belfast International Airport.

It predicts it will carry 140,000 people on the four routes over the coming year - increasing its passenger numbers to close on 3.3 million annually. In July, it flew its 20 millionth passenger from Belfast.

The expansion comes weeks before Aer Lingus opens its Belfast hub with nine routes. It will pit both airlines against Jet2 on the Barcelona route and easyJet alone against Jet2 on the Prague route.

David Osborne, easyJet UK general manager, said the extra routes further cemented their commitment to the region and its people.

"We have been in Northern Ireland for nine years and we intend to keep expanding for many years to come," he said.

The airline's huge investment in the North over the years had strongly supported the local economy and opened links to Europe that were vital for business as well as leisure travellers.

Mr Osborne said "We have ensured that the travelling public no longer have to endure lengthy connections through London airports and can now fly direct to the main airports of Europe's major cities with easyJet's low fares."

John Doran, managing director of Belfast International , said he was delighted to acknowledge the airline's further commitment to the airport with its delivery of fresh and refreshing destinations.

He said: "easyJet can truly claim to have pioneered the changed landscape for air travel to and from Northern Ireland over the past decade.

"They have proven to be a responsible, serious and innovative business partner, delivering a wide range of vital business and leisure links for passengers departing from and arriving into Northern Ireland, dating back to 1998."

The Gdansk route follows on from the success of easyJet's first route to Poland - Krakow - which was launched in April. Such has been demand on that route that it has increased flights from three to five a week.

There has also been an increase in the frequency of services to London Stansted, Paris and Geneva.

The Consumer Council welcomed the new routes as a boost for competition, passenger choice, the tourism industry and the regional economy.

Eddie Lynch, head of consumer affairs at the council, said: "Passengers here have never had it so good in terms of direct access to Europe. In the past passengers travelling to Europe often had to make connecting flights which added significant time and expense to their journey.

"Northern Ireland passengers are no longer isolated on the edge of Europe and recent developments tell us access to Europe and beyond will continue to improve."

He said the new services to Prague and Barcelona provided extra choice for passengers and the routes to Venice and Gdansk expanded the menu to European destinations to 27 - against only one in 2004.