• easyJet launched its first based flight between London Gatwick and Barcelona on 1st February 2002

  • The airline has carried over 200 million customers to and from the airport over the last two decades

  • easyJet has since grown significantly over the past 20 years to become Gatwick’s largest airline - 79 aircraft will operate next summer

  • easyJet continues to grow at the airport which is now its largest base with 1.1m extra seats for next summer and new routes for example Rijeka on the Island of Krk in Croatia - a new route and network point 

easyJet, Europe’s leading airline, is celebrating the 20-year anniversary of its base at London Gatwick airport.

The start of easyJet’s operation with a single Gatwick-based aircraft and locally employed crew began with just a handful of routes – the first being Barcelona on 1st February 2002 which was later joined by new routes to Edinburgh, Zurich, Malaga and Palma throughout the same month. Previously, flying had only been in bound from its bases in Geneva, Nice and Amsterdam.       

Since then the airline has grown to become Gatwick’s largest and also easyJet’s largest base on its entire network. The airline will operate 79 aircraft from the airport next summer and now serves over 120 routes across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

EZY813 from London Gatwick to Barcelona was the very first flight operated by London Gatwick-based crew on a Boeing 737 aircraft which departed at 11:15 on 1st February 2002 with 137 passengers onboard. Since then the airline has flown over 200 million passengers to and from the airport. easyJet now has an all Airbus A320 family fleet including the more efficient neo type which both more fuel efficient and quieter and introduced its first ever A321 neo into the fleet in 2018 which was also based  Gatwick.

easyJet flew around 19m passengers to and from the airport in 2019 and continues to grow. The airline has just added over 1.1 million additional seats on sale from the airport next for summer meaning passengers have an even greater choice of low fared flights when choosing where to take their next trip.

easyJet will also be introducing a new route for customers next summer from Gatwick. On sale later this week, Krk, the largest Island in the Adriatic sea, nestled off the coast of Croatia, is a brand new destination in easyJet’s network and will provide a unique summer holiday hotspot for customers looking to explore beyond the mainstream Mediterranean destinations.  The new route will operate on Tuesdays and Saturdays, starting 3rd May.

Ali Gayward, easyJet’s  UK Country Manager said:

“easyJet is delighted to be celebrating 20 years at our London Gatwick base, our largest base in the network. Over the last two decades we have remained committed to providing even more choice for our customers travelling to and from the airport, growing our operation to become Gatwick’s largest airline.

“And we remain focussed on growth at Gatwick; we recently added  over a million extra seats from the airport for next summer and new routes such as our new flights to Krk off the coast of Croatia, continuing to provide passengers with an ever-greater range of destinations all with a convenient schedule, low fares and great service for both leisure and business travellers.

“Now is a great time to book with easyJet. We are excited about our plans at Gatwick for next summer, and we can’t wait to welcome more customers back onboard.”

Stephanie Wear, Vice President of Airline Development, Gatwick Airport, said: 

“easyJet and Gatwick have grown together over the last 20 years and, since that first flight to Barcelona, we have helped millions of passengers go on holiday, visit friends and family or take an important business trip.  The events of the last two years make today’s 20th anniversary of easyJet at Gatwick even more poignant and it feels fantastic that together we can once again offer our passengers the opportunity to enjoy the delights of so many destinations across Europe and beyond.”

 

For further information, please contact the easyJet Press Office on 01582 525252, log onto www.easyJet.com or follow @easyJet_Press

 

About easyJet:

easyJet is Europe’s leading airline offering a unique and winning combination of the best route network connecting Europe's primary airports, with great value fares and friendly service.

easyJet flies on more of Europe’s most popular routes than any other airline and carried more than 96 million passengers in 2019 – more than 16 million travelling for business. The airline has over 300 aircraft on nearly 1000 routes to more than 150 airports across 35 countries. Over 300 million Europeans live within one hour's drive of an easyJet airport.

easyJet aims to be a good corporate citizen, employing people on local contracts in eight countries across Europe in full compliance with national laws and recognising their trade unions. The airline supports several local charities and has a corporate partnership with UNICEF which has raised over £14m for the most vulnerable children since it was established in 2012.

The airline takes sustainability seriously and is committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions flying by 2050. Together with its partners, including Airbus, Rolls-Royce, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Wright Electric, easyJet is working to accelerate the development of zero-emission aircraft technology. In the meantime, the airline is offsetting the carbon emissions from the fuel used for all its flights, at no additional cost to its customers, and only supports projects that are certified by Gold Standard or the Verified Carbon Standard, internationally recognised certification schemes. In addition, easyJet continues to renew its fleet, operate efficiently, and aims to fill most of its seats. Since 2000, over a 20-year period, the airline reduced its carbon emissions per passenger, per kilometre by over one-third, and aims to bring this down further.

Innovation is in easyJet’s DNA – since launching over 25 years ago, easyJet changed the way people fly to the present day where the airline leads the industry in digital, web, engineering and operational innovations to make travel more easy and affordable for its passengers. 

The airline was named as Britain’s Most Admired Company of 2020 in the transport sector, retaining the leading position for a second year running. Britain's Most Admired Companies study is the longest-running annual survey of corporate reputation in the UK.