EasyJet to open seasonal summer base in Palma

EasyJet is to establish a seasonal summer base in Palma for the first time next year.

The move will see the budget carrier basing three Airbus A319 or A320 aircraft in Majorca for eight months of the year starting in spring 2017, helping it connect the island with more airports across Europe not currently served.

More than 120 direct pilot and cabin crew jobs will be created in Palma, and the airline’s pilots and cabin crew will have the option of transferring to Majorca for eight months of the year with four months off.

EasyJet has flown more than 17 million passengers to and from the city since its operations began in 1997 and currently carries over 1.7 million passengers a year from 22 bases across its European network.

Palma is one of the most popular summer destinations from the UK and northern Europe, and the airline hopes basing aircraft in the city will help it meet customer demand which is higher from early spring to late summer.

The airline’s chief executive, Carolyn McCall, said: “I am pleased to be announcing the first seasonal base in our network. This is another example of developing new initiatives to make our business model even more efficient.

“The base provides a solution that matches the seasonal needs of the market. Palma is one of our most popular destinations and so with the new base we will be able to better respond to customer demand.”

EasyJet recently opened a base at Barcelona’s El Prat airport with three A320s and plans to carry more than 13.6 million passengers to and from Spain this year, a four per cent increase from 2015.

A total of 14 new routes have been announced for this summer, including two – Amsterdam and Nice – to and from Palma.