easyJet add 12 UK Domestic Routes for Summer 2021

17 June 2021

easyJet have loaded 12 new domestic routes for Summer 2021, serving 16 airports across the United Kingdom.

As noted in my previous article (easyJet expands UK domestic - where next? (seanm1997.blogspot.com)), even before the collapse of Flybe in March 2021, easyJet has been the number 1 domestic carrier by seats in the UK - connecting major airports including London Gatwick, Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast International, and has recently grown its UK domestic operation.

easyJet have long served one key market in the UK domestic market - connecting major cities and conurbations. Belfast (International) has been key to this. Being on a separate island to Great Britain has allowed easyJet to grow its Belfast operation in recent years and with the collapse of Flybe, easyJet became the largest domestic carrier from the Northern Ireland capital.

In 2019, the airline launched Manchester - Jersey and in 2020 launched Edinburgh - Birmingham and Glasgow - Birmingham, whilst in early 2021 the airline re-introduced previously cut routes including London Gatwick - Aberdeen and Edinburgh - Jersey and has added new routes to Bournemouth (from Belfast and Edinburgh), Inverness (Belfast) and Newquay (Glasgow, London Gatwick and Manchester). This all shows significant confidence that the UK domestic market but also a growing demand for staycations.

Overnight, easyJet added 12 new routes into the system - all to be launched in July 2021 for the Summer 2021 season, with a mixture of leisure and business orientated routes. This included 3 new destinations (or returning after many, many years) - Belfast City, East Midlands and Leeds/Bradford The new routes added are:

Belfast International - East Midlands (4x weekly flights)

Belfast International - Leeds/Bradford (4x weekly flights)

Bristol - Aberdeen (4x weekly flights)

Bristol - Jersey (3x weekly flights)

Inverness - Newquay (2x weekly flights)

Jersey - Birmingham (2x weekly flights)

Jersey - Newcastle (3x weekly flights)

Liverpool - Bournemouth (2x weekly flights)

London Gatwick - Belfast City (14x weekly flights)

Manchester - Aberdeen (4x weekly flights)

Manchester - Edinburgh (5x weekly flights)

Newquay - Birmingham (2x weekly flights)

GCMap.com

These routes can be broken down into three:

- Recently cut by other airlines

- Staycations

- Trialling new options

Recently cut by other airlines:

Stobart Air collapsed in early June 2021, leading to a loss of 9 routes from Belfast City airport. Aer Lingus and British Airways CityFlyer have announced a number of additions - however, easyJet have now added Belfast International to East Midlands and Belfast International - Leeds/Bradford routes as part of this recovery. Whilst these serve a different Belfast airport, the market remains similar. easyJet's A319/A320 aircraft are much larger than the ATR72 for Stobart Air, however, frequencies are reduced to compensate for this.

Loganair recently replaced its non-stop Aberdeen-Bristol route with a one-stop Aberdeen-Teesside-Bristol service. This has meant a gap in the market for a non-stop route, which easyJet have now looked to introduce. easyJet currently serve non-stop flights from Bristol to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness, meaning Aberdeen was a logical next step in the market.

Staycations:

Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, staycations to the Channel Islands, Cornwall and Dorset are becoming popular, with many airlines adding domestic routes to these regions throughout 2021 including British Airways, Eastern Airways, Jet2, Loganair and Wizz Air launching their first UK domestic routes (Should Wizz Air launch UK Domestic Flights? (seanm1997.blogspot.com)).

With this in mind, it seems logical for easyJet to add routes to these markets. Bristol-Jersey would compete directly with Blue Islands, Jersey-Birmingham competes with Blue Islands and Jet2 whilst Jersey-Newcastle competes directly with Loganair and Jet2. Therefore, it won't be straight forward for easyJet to command these routes, however, it is good news for the customer with the increased competition likely to lower prices.

In Cornwall, easyJet have added 3 routes to Newquay in 2021 - Glasgow, London Gatwick and Manchester, and today have announced two more routes: Birmingham and Inverness. Birmingham-Newquay is the largest Flybe route from Cornwall which was unserved so was a logical choice for easyJet. Inverness-Newquay is interesting as neither airport is a base for easyJet and would be the longest non-stop flight in Great Britain. However, as the alternative is to travel 11 hours in a car of 14 hours on a train, flying should appeal to customers wishing to explore a new region of Great Britain.

Bournemouth is interesting as not seen the great rush of new routes - with easyJet adding in domestic flights to Belfast International and Edinburgh in May 2021. This will be the only non-stop domestic route from Liverpool to Great Britain - and should attract to those wanting a staycation away from the busy Channel Islands and Cornwall.

Trialling new options:

easyJet are also trialling new options - linking business destinations with limited competition. Manchester-Aberdeen is only served by Loganair, whilst Manchester-Edinburgh has a direct train link and London Gatwick-Belfast City is unserved (although London-Belfast has other Aer Lingus, British Airways and easyJet flights).

These 3 are the most likely to be retained in the long term, however with short sector times to Scotland and competition between rail and air alternatives, these will not be straight forward battles for easyJet to win.

These 12 routes are a bold strategy for easyJet, but a necessary one in 2021 due to travel restrictions and needing to maintain crew hours. It will be interesting to see if any of these routes last the test of time and return for Summer 2022, or even become year round route. Furthermore, easyJet expanding its UK flights after cutting its bases at London Southend, London Stansted and Newcastle in 2021 shows how adaptable easyJet have become in the wake of COVID-19 and its travel restrictions. Time will tell if easyJet will reaffirm its desire to serve all these routes in the UK or if they will become one season wonders.

Photo: https://mediacentre.easyjet.com/content-files