Northern Ireland`s first low-cost air service to Europe has grown business and leisure visits to the Province by over 50% within five months.

easyJet has recently increased the number of flights is offers by adding a morning flight to the existing daily evening Belfast - Amsterdam service which was launched in January this year.

Between January and May easyJet carried 33,000 passengers on the route, over twice the 16,000 carried by KLMuk over the same period in 1997 when it operated the route on a once daily frequency. Only 45% of the increase in passenger volumes can be attributed to the easyJet operation of larger aircraft, leaving an impressive 55% of the growth down to the dynamic effect on travel, and therefore on the economy, of a low-cost service.

easyJet is delighted with the performance of the route and has added the daily 9am flight in response to business travellers who want an earlier arrival in Amsterdam and greater opportunity to connect onto worldwide flights from Schiphol.

And during a recent visit to Belfast, easyJet chief executive Ray Webster promised more services to come:

p>“As we have bought new aircraft, the lion`s share of the new seats have gone into Belfast. We`ve invested heavily here but the people of Northern Ireland have repaid us many times over. For that we`re very grateful and we`ll keep putting in the services if things continue this way”, he said.

 

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