TRAVEL: EasyJet opens new Schiphol base, to add 4th plane

EasyJet has celebrated the opening of its new base at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam and announced plans to add a fourth aircraft to its fleet at the airport from October 2015 onwards. The extra aircraft means another 40 jobs will be created, bringing the total number of easyJet employees based at the airport and employed on Dutch contracts to 160.

CEO Carolyn McCall arrived at the airport in a special Dutch-themed aircraft, with Holland’s signature tulips decorating the airline’s recently revealed new livery.
“Opening a base at Schiphol is an important strategic move for us. easyJet is already the second largest airline at Amsterdam – one of Europe's leading airports serving a large and growing aviation market with strong passenger demand both to and from the Dutch capital,” McCall said.
“Schiphol was easyJet's first destination outside the UK in 1996 and today we fly to and from London 108 times per week. Basing aircraft at Schiphol allows us to offer more destinations for Dutch passengers – both business travellers flying to cities and leisure travellers flying holiday destinations. Around a third of passengers on our Amsterdam flights are traveling on business.”
The base opening has enabled easyJet to introduce nine new destinations including Corfu, Dubrovnik, Hamburg, Ibiza, Nice, Olbia, Palermo, Toulouse and Venice, bringing the total number of destinations from Amsterdam for the airline to 29. Earlier this week, the airline also announced that it will start flying from Amsterdam to Milan Linate airport, which is ideal for business passengers due to its close proximity to Milan’s city centre.
Last week, easyJet opened its 25th base in Porto, Portugal. The airline is basing two aircraft at the base and plans to double the routes it offers from the region.