easyJet, Europe's leading airline and the largest airline in Northern Ireland, is celebrating 20 years of flying passengers to and from Belfast International Airport today.

The airline is celebrating with Q Radio with the Q Breakfast team Stephen and Cate, who are hosting their show live from behind the scenes at easyJet's crew room at Belfast International Airport.

Listeners will hear from easyJet's crew on what it's like to fly from Belfast and can enter a competition to win easyJet flights, with two pairs of return tickets to anywhere on the Belfast network up for grabs.

In 20 years of operations, easyJet has grown to be the largest airline at Belfast International Airport and in Northern Ireland, flying 54 million passengers in that time with over 4 million flown last year.

easyJet's very first flight from Belfast - to London Luton - took off on the evening of Friday 18 September 1998 and since then the airline has gone from strength to strength. This year easyJet welcomed its sixth A320 family aircraft to the base and launched four new routes to the Isle of Man, Valencia, Venice and Naples, bringing the number of easyJet routes now serving Belfast to 35. easyJet now carries more passengers from Belfast to Spain and Portugal than any other airline and links Belfast with more London airports than any other airline, providing up to 200 flights a week.

This month easyJet recorded its busiest flying day in history and carried over 330,000 passengers on its flights last Friday 14 September; over 18,500 of these passengers flew to or from Belfast.

Ali Gayward, easyJet's UK Country Manager, said:

"We are delighted to be celebrating our 20th Birthday at Belfast International Airport today.

"For two decades we are proud to have been providing passengers with an ever-growing range of destinations, all with low fares and great service. In fact, with fares as low as £18.70* that's 37% cheaper than when we launched our first route for £29.99 from Belfast to London Luton.

"Our ongoing growth at Belfast International Airport demonstrates easyJet's long-term commitment to Northern Ireland and as the largest airline we are proud to have carried 54 million passengers in that time.

"We look forward to providing even more choice for our Belfast customers in the years ahead."

Graham Keddie, Managing Director at Belfast International Airport, said:

"easyJet has revolutionised air travel in Northern Ireland over the last 20 years, providing passengers with low fares to 35 destinations across GB and Europe, direct from their local airport. The partnership between easyJet and the airport has been a tremendous success and we look forward to building on that success over the coming years."

For more information about the new flights or easyJet's network from Belfast visit www.easyJet.com

Ends

For further information, please contact the easyJet Press Office on 01582 525252, log ontowww.easyjet.comor follow @easyJet_Press

*one-way based on two people travelling and including taxes.

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. easyJet carries over 83 million passengers annually, of which more than 13 million are travelling on business. easyJet flies 308 aircraft on more than 1000 routes to 154 airports across 33 countries. More than 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 a number of local charities and also has a corporate partnership with UNICEF which has raised over £10m for the most vulnerable children since it was established in 2012.

The airline takes sustainability seriously. easyJet invests in the latest technology, operates efficiently and fills most of its seats which means that an easyJet passenger's carbon footprint is 22% less than a passenger on a traditional airline, flying the same aircraft on the same route.

Innovation is in easyJet's DNA - from our launch over 20 years ago when we changed the way people fly to the present day where we lead the industry in digital, web, engineering and operational innovations to make travel more easy and affordable for our passengers.

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easyjet plc published this content on 18 September 2018 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 18 September 2018 09:57:02 UTC