EasyJet's Palma base will reopen this weekend. This will be third year that the airline has had a base at Son Sant Joan Airport, and it plans increasing capacity by 7% compared with last summer. Around three million passengers will fly to and from Palma, giving easyJet some ten per cent of the market, a rise of more than one per cent from last year. Five aircraft will be based in Palma. Twenty-six routes will be served; these include UK, German, French, Dutch, Italian and Swiss.
Twenty-nine new jobs have been created in Palma, increasing the number of local employees to 201. These are all under Spanish employment contracts and include cabin crew and pilots.
The airline's director-general for Spain, Javier Gándara, says that in a year of uncertainty for some companies, "we have demonstrated that our business model is sound and that our sustainable growth strategy is bearing fruit". The reopening of the base, he adds, reflects easyJet's long-term commitment and desire to "provide the best service and the most competitive".
Gándara explains that in "an ever more congested environment, the loyalty from our customers continues to grow each year". The 17 million passengers to and from Spain in 2018 will rise to 19 million this year.