dailynewsnblog
easyJet has started the week on a high with a series of major announcements highlighting the considerable extent to which the airline is investing in its future, both as far as its fleet and network are concerned. On the fleet side of things, the British low-cost carrier has teamed up with Mirus Aircraft Seating to fit almost 240 incoming aircraft from the Airbus A320neo family with lightweight ‘Kestrel’ seats offering extra legroom.
Meanwhile, in terms of easyJet’s network, today saw the carrier celebrate the opening of its new base at Newcastle International Airport (NCL) in the northeast of England. Newcastle is easyJet’s 11th UK base, and, to mark this milestone, the airline partnered with catering giant Gregg’s to showcase its new routes.
New Seats From 2028
easyJet and Mirus Aircraft Seating, a Norfolk-based manufacturer that specializes in the production of slimline seats for commercial planes, have shaken hands on a deal that will see the orange-clad budget airline fit its incoming aircraft with the company’s ‘Kestrel’ product. This lightweight seat will offer two inches of extra legroom on a grand total of 237 Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft that are set to be delivered to easyJet from 2028.
In addition to taking passenger comfort to the next level, the lightweight nature of the Kestrel product will also see easyJet reap rewards in terms of sustainability. Indeed, with these seats being around 20% lighter than those already in use, easyJet stands to save more than 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year thanks to the subsequent reduction in fuel burn. In terms of the rollout and marketing, easyJet CEO Kenton Jarvis told Simple Flying that:
“It’s not the intention to retrofit [older Recaro-equipped aircraft with the Kestrel]. It’s an expense to rip out perfectly good seats and put in new ones. (…) Our continued messaging [will be] that easyJet has a very comfortable seat pitch [and] very comfortable aircraft.”
Welcome To Newcastle
Today also marked the opening of easyJet’s new base at Newcastle Airport. In addition to being the carrier’s 11th UK base, as previously noted, it is also its third new one in the country in as many years, following the launch of bases in Birmingham (BHX) in 2024 and London Southend (SEN) in 2025. The airline has said that this latest investment will support 1,200 jobs, with 140 new pilot and cabin crew positions having been created.
While easyJet was already serving Newcastle on a limited basis using aircraft and crew from other bases, properly setting up shop in the northeast of England will now allow it to operate as many as 86 flights a week to 22 cities. This represents an 85% increase compared to last summer. In addition to serving the city itself, easyJet is also marketing Newcastle as an ideal option for flyers from Southern Scotland, North Yorkshire, and Cumbria.
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easyJet’s Newcastle Operations |
|
|---|---|
|
Maximum Frequency |
Destinations |
|
Daily |
Belfast, Bristol |
|
Six flights a week |
Palma de Mallorca, Paris |
|
Four flights a week |
Alicante, Amsterdam |
|
Three flights a week |
Faro, Malta, Nice |
|
Two flights a week |
Antalya, Corfu, Dalaman, Enfidha, Geneva, Lisbon, Prague, Reus, Rhodes, Rome, Sharm-el-Sheikh, Tenerife |
easyJet’s growing presence in Newcastle reflects the airport’s considerable recent investment. Speaking today at a launch event attended by Simple Flying’s Tom Boon, Nick Jones, the airport’s CEO, said that the facility has “invested £60 million over the last two years, getting ready for growth that we’re talking about today, and also maintaining our award-winning customer experience that we’re very proud of.” For Newcastle, the future is orange!
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Quirky Catering
Newcastle is well known for many things in its own right, and easyJet has leant into this with the launch of its new base by teaming up with local culinary heroes Greggs to highlight the new routes that it is now serving from the northeast of England. As seen above, from today until Wednesday, easyJet and Greggs, which is based in Newcastle, will be offering free sausage rolls and dips from an airline catering trolley in the city center.
While sausage rolls have long been a staple of the Greggs portfolio, the dips are a limited-time initiative with which easyJet is aiming to transport people’s taste buds to the new destinations that it will be serving from Newcastle. Known as ‘Destination Dips,’ the flavors on offer include the likes of ‘Saucy Kebab’ (Turkey), ‘Silky Affogato’ (Italy), Snappy Sangria (Spain), ‘Spicy Harissa Ketchup’ (Tunisia), and ‘Tangy Tarte Tatin’ (France).
