EasyJet is to establish new seasonal bases in Faro and Malaga in time for next summer.
Both mainland Portugal and Spain remain off the government’s travel corridors list due to Covid-19 spikes.
But the budget carrier plans to base three aircraft in each airport, creating around 200 pilot and cabin crew jobs.
The new bases, announced as the airline forecast losses of up to £845 million for the year to September, will allow it to better respond to higher customer demand over the summer.
Both bases are planned to become operational next spring operating over the summer season to the end of October.
Each will be the third base in each country with Malaga joining Barcelona and Palma in Spain and Faro alongside Lisbon and Porto in Portugal.
EasyJet has long served both destinations and has collectively flown 55 million passengers since 1999, the vast majority being holidaymakers heading to the Algarve and Costa del Sol.
EasyJet group markets director Thomas Haagensen said: “Despite the difficult environment that the whole industry is navigating through, this move confirms our commitment to these two popular destinations and will enable us to better serve our customers by optimising our schedule over the summer season as well as making a positive economic contribution to each region.”
The addition of Malaga and Faro means easyJet will operate from 28 bases across its network. The airline flew more than 8 million passengers to and from Portugal and 18.5 million for Spain last year.