If Eurowings seems to have missed the boat somewhat at Berlin - in particular because it was unable to obtain the equipment and frequencies of the deceased Nikkithe Austrian subsidiary of airBerlin -, its competitor Easyjet took advantage of the opportunity to win in the German capital.
This summer, the carrier is offering flights to 84 destinations in Europe from the airports of Berlin Schönefeld, its historical base, and Berlin Tegelthe former stronghold of airBerlin. From this airport, which is more convenient for business passengers as it is only 8km from the centre of the capital, the low-cost airline offers routes to 54 towns, including six in France. It has also transferred some lines from Schönefeld to Tegel, such as the Paris-Orly - Berlin or the London Gatwick - Berlin, targeting business customers in particular. New routes from Tegel this summer include Aarhus, Alghero, Bari, Biarritz, Edinburgh, London-Gatwick, Olbia, Paris-Orly and Prague. From Schönefeld, the carrier continues to offer a network of 50 cities, including seven in France.
The carrier offers a total capacity of 16 million seats over the whole year, a remarkable result given that the carrier only moved to Tegel on 5 January last year. While it carried 3.5 million passengers to and from Berlin in 2017, easyJet expects total passenger numbers to exceed 5.6 million in 2018, representing growth in traffic of 60%. On domestic routes, the airline has increased its connections to Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich from Tegel. The strategy is paying off, as Thomas Haagensen, easyJet Regional Director for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, points out: " 75% of companies in the DAX30 (the German stock market index) have signed travel policy agreements with us. And this is set to increase ".
This summer, Easyjet is introducing its new " Worldwide by easyJet " which offers connections with other carriers in the rest of the world. Tegel is the third airport after London Gatwick and Milan Malpensa to become a hub for the airline. And not to be outdone, in March easyJet signed a partnership agreement with the Berlin Tourist Office to promote the city in Europe.
The rise of easyJet should therefore have a positive effect on traffic in Berlin. In March, after several months of decline, passenger numbers at Berlin's two airports finally returned to growth. Total passenger numbers rose by 4.9% in March, or 2.7 million passengers. Even Berlin Tegel benefited: passenger numbers rose by 2.4% in March. This compares with a fall of 5.5% in February...
