Published on : Friday, May 9, 2014
FBB/ easyJet is celebrating the opening ten years ago of its first German base in Berlin. On 28 April 2004, the airline’s first aircraft from Liverpool landed at Berlin Schönefeld Airport. Since then,
easyJet has been connecting the Berlin-Brandenburg region to the cities of Europe with non-stop flights. The network of destinations has been developed continuously: in 2004 the airline flew to 20 destinations, and it is now flying to 44. The airline has flown more than 30 million passengers to and from Berlin since 2004 and in doing so has covered 285 million kilometres. In 2013 alone, the number of passengers increased by almost nine per cent compared to the previous year. In terms of passenger volume, this makes Berlin the fifth biggest city in the easyJet network.
“We are delighted about this anniversary. Over the past ten years, Berlin Schönefeld has become a major hub for easyJet and an important economic factor for the Berlin-Brandenburg region,” says Thomas Haagensen, Regional General Manager of easyJet Germany. “Berlin’s appeal has grown markedly during the past decade. easyJet has benefited as a result, and we would like to thank the city of Berlin for this. But also easyJet’s network of destinations has played a role in enabling tourists and business travellers to discover this exciting city steeped in history,” he adds.
Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin: “Congratulations on the Berlin success story! easyJet was a spark for Berlin’s ascension into the top three European city destinations, alongside Paris and London. Thank you so much for this.”
“Our warmest congratulations go to easyJet on this their tenth Berlin anniversary,” says Hartmut Mehdorn, CEO of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH. “The opening of the Berlin base in 2004, the airline’s very first location in Germany, was the start of an impressive success story – for the airline and for the airport. With easyJet, Schönefeld awoke from its slumber, and the volume of traffic and passengers has grown rapidly. With a market share of over 66 per cent and more than 30 million passengers in ten years, easyJet is the biggest airline at Schönefeld and has firmly established its position as the number three in Berlin. We would like to express our thanks for the trust placed in us. We look forward to many more successful years and wish easyJet all the very best for all future flights,” he adds.
A cake for the airline
Over the past ten years, some of the capital’s character has rubbed off on the airline, as could be seen in the terminal and during boarding: departing passengers were surprised with some authentic “Berlinisch”. At the boarding bridges of some easyJet aircraft a huge speech bubble contained a humorous invitation in Berlin dialect welcoming passengers to come aboard. And to mark the anniversary, the in-flight announcements on the flight to Olbia were even made in Berlin dialect. Passengers who sang “Happy Birthday” in the terminal could skip the queue and hand in their luggage straightaway. There was an orange-coloured anniversary cake too: Hartmut Mehdorn and Thomas Haagensen cut it together, and it was then shared out among passengers.
easyJet is popular among tourists and business travellers
easyJet is the third biggest airline in Berlin and the biggest at Berlin Schönefeld. In a European comparison, easyJet is the fourth biggest airline. From Berlin, the airline offers direct flights to numerous European destinations – for both tourists and the growing number of business travellers. The most popular destinations are London, Barcelona, Paris and Rome. The Berlin – Tel Aviv route was most recently added in February.
Interesting facts from the past ten years
The airline has covered a distance of 285 million kilometres to and from Berlin during the past ten years. That is the equivalent of more than 7,100 times around the Earth.
All aircraft at the Berlin base spent a total of 463,937 hours in the air. That is just under 53 years.
In the past year alone, 51,877 litres of water and 38,692 litres of coffee were served on easyJet flights departing Berlin. That would fill more than 346 and 276 bathtubs respectively.
The most popular snacks on flights departing Berlin in 2013 were muffins, Twix chocolate bars, and crisps.
easyJet flew the following three routes the most frequently over the past ten years from Berlin:
Berlin Schönefeld – Basel (Basel Mulhouse Freiburg): 22,175 flights
Paris Orly – Berlin Schönefeld: 17,498 flights
London Luton – Berlin Schönefeld: 15,632 flights
The shortest easyJet route from Berlin is Copenhagen: 430 km and a flight time of 61 minutes.
The longest easyJet route from Berlin is Tenerife: 3,865 km and a flight time of 5 hours and 8 minutes.
Source:- FBB
Tags: Airline News, FBB
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