easyJet announces expansion at Belfast International Airport with 40 jobs and new route to Palma de Mallorca from Belfast City Airport

The move comes after the airline operated its largest ever summer flying programme from Belfast International and flew a record 4.6 million of passengers to and from Northern Ireland during its 2023 financial year.

The airline said the arrival of a ninth aircraft at the airport will enable it to offer customers in Northern Ireland even more choice and greater connectivity across the UK, Europe and beyond,

The expansion will mean that easyJet, which already employs over 400 people at its Belfast base, expects to have more than 450 employees based in Northern Ireland including pilots, cabin crew and base management.

The new neo aircraft will join three 156-seat Airbus A319, three 186-seat A320, and two 186-seat A320neo aircraft already serving easyJet customers at Belfast International. The airline said that compared to the current generation of aircraft, the Airbus NEO brings significant environmental benefits and operational efficiencies compared to the previous generation of aircraft, resulting in at least 15 per cent less CO2 emissions and 50 per cent less noise during take-off and landing.

A new summer route between Belfast City Airport and the popular Balearic island of Palma de Mallorca has also been announced by easyJet.

The new route will take off from June 24, 2024, with twice weekly departures on Mondays and Thursdays.

In the last year easyJet’s network in Northern Ireland has gone from strength to strength, with six new routes, including services to Glasgow, Bristol, and Manchester from Belfast City and to Rhodes, and Antalya from Belfast International. The airline has already announced six new routes for its 2024 financial year to Southampton, Larnaca, and Enfidha from Belfast International and to Alicante and now Palma from Belfast City.

Ali Gayward, easyJet UK country manager, said: “We are proud to be Northern Ireland’s largest airline and are delighted to have carried a record 4.6 million passengers in our last financial year, offering them a fantastic network of 40 routes from Belfast International and Belfast City.

"We continue to see opportunity in Belfast which is why we are pleased to be launching another new international route from Belfast City and to be basing another aircraft at our Belfast International base from next summer to offer our customers with even more choice like new routes to Enfidha and Larnaca, providing more connectivity to popular destinations across the UK, Europe and beyond, all with great value fares and a warm welcome onboard.”

Graham Keddie, managing director at Belfast International Airport, said: “This continued expansion of easyJet’s base at Belfast International Airport underlines their commitment to Northern Ireland bringing increased investment and employment to the region. It also solidifies our commitment as part of the VINCI Airports network to improve connectivity and provide choice to local passengers.”

Katy Best, commercial director at Belfast City Airport added: “We are thrilled easyJet will now be operating flights to Palma de Mallorca from Belfast City Airport, further demonstrating its commitment to providing great value flights to a range of popular destinations.

"The feedback from our recent announcement that easyJet will commence flights to Alicante was extremely positive so we are continuing to respond to the growing demand for sunshine routes from Belfast’s most convenient and punctual airport.”

easyJet connects Northern Ireland to major cities across Europe like Paris, Krakow, Nice, and Amsterdam, as well as to a range of leisure destinations like Faro, Tenerife, Malaga, Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt and a range of ski routes including Lyon, Bordeaux and Geneva as well as over 10 domestic routes across the UK.

The airline operates over 800 flights to and from Northern Ireland a week and has flown 73 million passengers across 40 routes in 14 countries since operations began.