Introduction
I’d like to thank the Commission for inviting easyJet to give evidence.
As we all know, aviation plays a vital role in supporting the UK’s economy and connecting British businesses and people with the rest of the world.
Over the next few decades there will be demand for new aviation capacity in the South East.
Our industry needs a roadmap for that aviation capacity.
There are different views in our industry on the precise way to achieve that but we all agree that we want certainty.
easyJet’s main ambitions are that this is the last review and that all political parties agree to your recommendations – whatever they are.
easyJet and our business model
I’d like to say a few words about easyJet.
Since we were founded in 1995 with a mission to provide safe, affordable and convenient flights we have revolutionised the way people travel in Europe and now carry over 60 million passengers per year on some 650 routes with a fleet of over 200 aircraft.
This success has been built on our simple, efficient, point to point business model.
We fly one sort of aircraft which all our crew and engineers can operate on.
Without a business class, we have more seats per aircraft.
We have load factors of around 90%.
We utilise our aircraft efficiently – usually taking 25 minutes to turn them round at an airport.
Almost all our bookings are on line.
Lower costs mean lower fares for our passengers.
Our planes and crew are based at 23 airports in the UK and Europe.
We fly to and from primary airports, operating more of Europe’s biggest routes than any other airline.
Everyone at easyJet feels passionately about making travel easy and affordable for our passengers at every step in their journey.
The rise of point to point
easyJet is now Britain’s biggest airline carrying more passengers than BA and Virgin combined.
I only say this to illustrate one of the key points we want to make to you – namely that the most successful aviation business model of the last decade is point to point.
The reason for its success is because it provides passengers with what they want - direct flights to where they want to go, and at a good fare.
An airport like Edinburgh now has a choice of 31 destinations served by easyJet on direct flights without the cost and inconvenience of connecting through London.
Examples include Athens, Amsterdam, Berlin, Iceland, Madrid, Paris CDG and Geneva.
Routes which flag carriers lost money on or wouldn’t even contemplate flying are profitable for us.
Today’s airports built on yesterday’s model
That leads to our second point, which is that the airport infrastructure we operate in today reflects the business model of 30 years ago – hub and spoke.
When planning the infrastructure of the next 30 – 50 years the Commission should reflect on this as these trends are more likely to shape the future of aviation than the old ways of working.
Point to point accounts for around 90% of all passenger journeys in UK airspace and even at Heathrow less than 20% of passenger journeys use the airport to transfer to another flight.
There is an over-emphasis on the importance of the hub, or focal, airport and we ask that aviation policy does not favour hubs and transfer operations over point to point.
The economic benefits of aviation are almost entirely from passengers who begin or end their journeys in the UK - including Heathrow.
There is minimal direct benefit from transfer passengers.
easyJet open minded in advance of proposals but clear on costs
Existing capacity should be fully utilised. In the short term, Luton and Southend could enable 10 million more passenger journeys a year without any new runways.
Without other firm proposals to review, easyJet is open minded about medium to long term options.
However, we are very clear about three things:
Capacity should be provided where there is passenger demand for it - aviation works best when consumers determine outcomes
Airports should only build the infrastructure that provides the level of service that passengers’ value and are willing to pay to use. There should be no gold plating or expensive infrastructure that passengers don't value.
Passengers should only pay for new infrastructure when they actually use it – like toll roads – and not for years in advance.
Environment and sustainability
Finally, all new capacity must be delivered sustainably.
Sustainable Aviation’s work shows that aviation emissions can be put on a downward path without artificially constraining demand.
We recognise that local noise and environmental impacts need to be addressed as part of specific proposals and we look forward to the Commission's considered views on these.
Conclusion
To conclude, passengers want to travel point to point and only transfer if they have to or if it is cheaper and they are very price sensitive.
Future connectivity will be driven by the demand from point to point passengers rather than transfer.
The future of aviation capacity should be determined by consumer demand not central planning and needs to be delivered cost effectively.
