easyJet, Europe’s leading airline and the largest airline in Berlin, is celebrating 15 years of flying passengers to and from Berlin today. In 15 years of operations, easyJet has grown to be the largest airline in Berlin, flying more than 61 million passengers in that time with over 10 million flown last year.
easyJet’s very first flights from Berlin-Schönefeld – to London Luton and Liverpool – took off on April 28th, 2004 and since then the airline has gone from strength to strength. Last year easyJet launched its base at Berlin-Tegel, bringing the number of easyJet-aircraft based in Berlin now to 35 aircraft with a route network of up to 90 destinations, Tegel and Schönefeld combined, which equals a market share of more than 30 per cent and makes easyJet the largest airline in the German capital.
Berlin is a key target market for easyJet and last year the airline joined forces with visitBerlin, the capital‘s official promotional organisation, to officially become Berlin’s home base carrier and jointly promote Berlin as a great destination for all Europeans. Since 2004 easyJet flew more than 33 million international passengers to Berlin and since the expansion at Berlin-Tegel this has increased by 60% year on year to 5.6m visitors in 2018.
Growing from 100 employees to more than 1.500 employees over the past 15 years, easyJet has become a strategic partner for the Berlin economy and respectable employer, employing its people on local German contracts in full compliance with national laws and recognising their trade unions.
To celebrate 15 years of flying to and from Berlin, easyJet has launched a social campaign focusing on those employees working with easyJet since day one as easyJet’s customer-facing employees are the very best in the industry and contribute significantly to the positive experience that customers enjoy. As part of the campaign, easyJet will also ask Berliners and Brandenburgers to submit entries showing their crew spirit with a chance to win free flights for a group of 15 persons to their favourite easyJet-destination. The activation will run until May 12, 2019 on the German Facebook-page.
Stephan Erler, easyJet’s Country Manager Germany, said:
“We are delighted to be celebrating our 15th birthday in Berlin today.
“For 15 years we are proud to have been providing passengers with an ever-growing range of destinations, all with low fares and great service. Our ongoing growth at both airports of Berlin-Schönefeld and Berlin-Tegel demonstrates easyJet’s long-term commitment to Berlin and as the largest airline we are proud to have carried more than 61 million passengers in that time. The base launch at Berlin Tegel last year enabled a signification network enhancement by also launching German domestic routes to Cologne-Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart as well as the new summer route to Sylt. More than one third of our passengers to and from Berlin are travelling for business.
“We have built a long term relationship with Berlin and have been working hand in hand with Berlin airport for over 15 years now to build a relevant leisure and business network reflecting our customers’ needs while continuously improving the customer experience with products such as the recently launched 18 self-service kiosks and eight baggage handling machines which have been installed at Berlin-Schönefeld.
“We are proud of the great achievements over the past 15 years and the positive feedback from our passengers clearly shows that they are convinced of our diverse network with attractive destinations and our fares, but also indicates that there is still growth potential. We see this success as an incentive to further expand our commitment as the largest airline in Berlin.“
Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, Chief Executive Officer of Berlin Brandenburg Airport GmbH, said:
“Schönefeld was the first German base for easyJet in 2004 and has contributed significantly to the current size of the airport by continually expanding the route network and encouraging steady passenger growth. With the opening of its base in Tegel and the further expansion of its range of flights, easyJet has risen to become the largest airline in the capital region in 2018. We look forward to continuing to work with easyJet at BER, starting from October 2020.”
Burkhard Kieker, CEO at visitBerlin, said:
“Congratulations to easyJet! The decision to make Berlin the first base outside Great Britain in 2004 was worthwhile for Berlin and easyJet. This was the starting point for Berlin’s rise to one of the top European destinations.
With its excellent connections, easyJet contributes significantly to the economic and tourist success of the German capital.”
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