Low-cost carrier announces it will launch services 6 times a week from Luton, budget Morocco flights.
By AP, JPOST.COM STAFFeasyjet 248 88(photo credit: Courtesy)
Low-cost carrier easyJet PLC announced Wednesday that it will open new services from London to Israel and Morocco later this year.
The airline said it will launch services six times a week from Luton Airport, just north of London, to Tel Aviv from November. A twice weekly service from London's Gatwick airport to Agadir, in southern Morocco, will begin in the same month.
EasyJet, which doubled its losses in the first six months of the financial year, is seeking to expand its routes and compete with traditional carriers.
The airline said it was adding a total of 23 routes in 2009, adding services across the Mediterranean and Middle East. It currently flies to 111 airports in 28 countries.
EasyJet spokeswoman Samantha Day said that flying to Israel was "the next logical step as part of that expansion."
"It'll introduce a whole new market. It makes Israel more accessible to a whole new range of travelers," she added.
EasyJet chief executive Andy Harrison said easyJet will be the first low-cost airline to operate between London and Israel.
"This is a major breakthrough," he said. "For the first time the traveling public in the London area has the choice between a high-cost traditional airline and a low-cost alternative."
One-way fares to Tel Aviv will be priced from about 72 pounds ($115.95), one-way fares to Agadir will cost from about 35 pounds ($56)
The airline posted a net loss of $114 million in May, compared with $70 million a year ago. It said fuel hedge contracts had kept it from benefiting from falling oil prices.
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