Low-cost airline easyJet will increase its presence at Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS) from next autumn. With the opening of new routes and the expansion of frequencies on existing ones, the airline will become the second largest operator in the Portuguese capital in terms of seats offer.
According to a press release today, the company will offer more than half a million additional seats to and from Lisbon next winter. To reinforce operations, three additional Airbus A321neo aircraft will be based at the airport. This will give the airline nine aircraft based at the airport and up to 19 based in Portugal.
The announcement comes after the European Commission authorised the allocation of 18 new operating slots to the airline at Lisbon. When the new connections are inaugurated, easyJet will operate a total of 32 routes to and from Lisbon (two domestic and thirty international).
The company highlighted that, «despite the challenging external environment», it has continued to invest in the Iberian country over the last two years. In this sense, they valued the inauguration of a new base in Faro and the opening of new routes from Lisbon and Oporto.
The company’s investment to expand and strengthen operations at the Portuguese capital’s airport is a further step in this direction. The increase in flights will help to sustain the company’s current recovery: compared to levels before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, easyJet increased its capacity at Lisbon by 61%. In addition, the increase reached 69% in Porto, 66% in Funchal-Madeira and 2% in Faro. It also started operations at Porto Santo-Madeira.
In total, the airline will sell 1.75 million seats to and from Lisbon. The figure represents an increase of 61% compared to 2021. The initiative will create 130 new direct jobs.
New easyJet routes from Lisbon (LIS)
- Porto Santo (PXO): two weekly frequencies. Starts on October 30th.
- Bergamo-Orio al Serio (BGY): three weekly frequencies. Starts on October 30th.
- Toulouse (TLS): four weekly frequencies. Starts on October 30th.
- Zurich (ZRH): four weekly frequencies. Starts on October 30th.
- Marrakech (RAK): two weekly frequencies. Starts on October 31th.
- Marseille (MRS): three weekly frequencies. Starts on November 1st.
- Birmingham-West Midlands (BHX): two weekly frequencies. Starts on November 2nd.
- Limoges (LIG): two weekly frequencies. Starts on December 13th.
In addition, easyJet will offer six new routes between Lisbon and Spain and increase frequencies between the Portuguese capital and Madrid.
Additional easyJet frequencies from Lisbon (LIS)
- Bordeaux (BOD): will reach eleven weekly frequencies.
- Lyon (LYS): will reach nine weekly frequencies.
- Nice (NCE): will reach six weekly frequencies.
- Nantes (NTE): will reach seven weekly frequencies.
- Geneva (GVA): will reach nineteen weekly frequencies.
- Milan-Malpensa (MXP): will reach fourteen weekly frequencies.
