UK low cost airline EasyJet is to launch new routes from London Gatwick to three Irish destinations. The airline is to fly from London to Cork, Knock and Shannon, with the services due to begin at the end of January.
This is the first time the airline has operated on Republic of Ireland routes, although it does operate services from Belfast. The Cork route will operate twice daily, while the Knock and Shannon will fly once daily. The Shannon route will rise to twice daily next summer.
'We are bringing easyJet's well established brand to Ireland and will be flying to the right places at the right prices for hundreds of thousands of passengers,' commented Ray Webster, easyJet's Chief Executive.
Meanwhile, easyJet today forecast that its profits would fly higher than expected in 2004 as it revealed that trading had improved in its final quarter.
The Luton-based airline, which has been facing tough competition in the cut-throat European air travel market, said full-year profits were now expected to top £60m sterling - at least 16% higher than in 2003. EasyJet had warned in June that profits may only just top last year's £52m in the face of the increasingly competitive market and higher fuel prices.
But in a trading statement today, the group said that its cost-cutting measures were showing results. Since the start of August, it has cut flights to Swiss financial hub Zurich and reduced capacity to Copenhagen and Amsterdam as part of an ongoing programme to drive down costs.
The airline said today it plans to increase the number of aircraft in its fleet by about 16% in 2005 - less than the 24% rise previously planned. Chief executive Ray Webster said the airline had enjoyed improved trading in the final quarter.
EasyJet said load factors - how full its aircraft were - had remained in the high 80s during the summer. It added that for the whole of the 2004 financial year passenger numbers should top 24.2 million and revenue is likely to grow by about 16%.
