EasyJet to fly into Istanbul

NO-FRILLS carrier easyJet, which was founded by Cypriot entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou is to begin flying to Istanbul and Marrakesh, British papers reported yesterday.

According to the Travel Trade Gazette (TTG), the move breaks new ground for low-cost carriers, which normally operate short-hail routes of three hours or less because flying faster routes more often brings in more profits.

EasyJet’s expansion will put pressure on airlines such as British Airways and on charter carriers, TTG said.

An easyJet spokeswoman told the paper it hoped to announce another non-EU destination next week “of a similar ilk”. She said easyJet would look at more areas “within a four-hour span of the aircraft”.

The airline is expected to fly daily from Luton to Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport from June 29, with return fares from £62 sterling return while it will begin daily Gatwick-Marrakesh services on July 4, from £62 return.

Andrew Harrison, chief executive of easyJet, told reporters in the UK: “This is probably our most significant expansion since the start of our new routes to central and eastern Europe in May 2004.” He said Morocco and Turkey were building closer ties with Britain and Europe.

“As a consequence, the demand for low fares to these countries is growing quickly, and easyJet will be in a unique position to benefit from this development,” said Harrison.

The airline will also begin four weekly flights between Basel and Istanbul on May 24, Agence France Presse reported.

EasyJet flew 29.6 million passengers last year. The airline has 15 bases in Europe. Its latest opens in Milan next week.

However, it appears that despite taking up longer routes, Cyprus is still off the easyJet agenda. Transport Minister Haris Thrasou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that the government had not received any licence application from easyJet for flights to the island. “Not for the time being at least,” he said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.