EasyJet, Milan base kicks off with €500 million investment

The arrival of easyJet at Linate with its new base, the fourth after Milan Malpensa, Rome Fiumicino and Naples, brings five aircraft with 22 routes, 17 of which new, increasing operations at Milan's City Airport by 145%. An investment worth EUR 500 million for the Milanese staircase alone, to which another EUR 300 million should be added for the three aircraft based in Rome, strengthening the presence of the British low-cost airline, which has 38 aircraft based in Italy and aims to diversify its tourist vocation, intercepting business customers with connections to the great European capitals such as Paris Charles De Gaulle, Paris Orly, London Gatwick, Amsterdam, and Brussels. Among the new destinations, available from Sunday, 14 were not served by the city airport as in the cases of Lisbon, Barcelona, Birmingham, Luxembourg, Manchester, Edinburgh, Oslo, Vienna and Copenhagen. The two daily connections to Frankfurt and Brussels started already on Sunday. Leasures destinations are Figari (Corsica), Ibiza, Tenerife and Split and from autumn Gran Canaria. With the new bases in Milan Linate and Rome Fiumicino, the Italian market becomes the second most important in the low-cost network after the United Kingdom and ahead of France.

"The opening of our new base at Linate marks a historic step for easyJet in Italy as it becomes the number one market in continental Europe and reinforces our commitment to democratising air travel, making it more accessible and convenient for Italian passengers. For the first time, we are offering a large-scale low-cost alternative at this airport where traditional airlines have historically operated: by connecting Milan to a growing number of European destinations with direct flights, we aim to revolutionise the travel experience from Linate and stimulate economic growth in the area," said Kenton Jarvis, easyJet CEO.

"The arrival of easyJet at Linate represents a concrete advantage for the airport - underlined Armando Brunini, ceo of Sea Milan Airports - since it is an airport with limited movements, the use of aircraft with greater capacity and high load factors allows a particularly efficient use of the available slots. easyJet's positioning is consistent with that of Linate, thanks to its point-to-point model on European destinations. Moreover, easyJet's network will significantly broaden the portfolio of international destinations compared to the current offer, which until now has been mainly concentrated on connections to the reference hubs of the traditional airlines operating out of Linate".

The economic and business factor is an important lever for the Lombardy region, which accounts for a quarter of the national GDP. In a report on the economic and territorial impact of the company in the region, produced by Assolombarda Servizi, it was highlighted how easyJet's investment in Milan airports has grown steadily over time: taking 2006 as a reference, the year in which easyJet established itself in Italy by opening its Malpensa base (easyJet's connections in Italy began in 1998), it recalls how the total routes operated by the company in Lombardy have risen from 15 to the current 94, while the number of passengers has increased eightfold, raising the company's regional market share from 3% to 18%, while the expected market share in the summer at Linate is 22%.

The study also shows that Lombardy is home to about one fifth of all Italian companies. Furthermore, the Linate catchment area is home to 840,000 local business units, equal to 87% of the regional total. Overall, easyJet generated a total impact on the added value of the Lombardy economy equal to 8.5 billion euros while the direct and indirect employment effects reach over 11.4 thousand employees in 2024. Finally, it has been calculated that €1.1 billion of expenditure is generated in the region in one year by easyJet travellers.