EasyJet has expanded its flight-connections service ‘Worldwide by easyJet’ to seven additional airports and carriers including Thomas Cook Airlines and Tui-owned Corsair in France.
The budget carrier pledged to “sign up other airlines throughout 2018” and revealed it’s in “advanced talks” on further expansion with airlines in the Middle East and Far East.
EasyJet launched its connections platform at Gatwick last September allowing passengers to book connecting long-haul flights with Norwegian Air and WestJet of Canada, and it extended the service to Milan Malpensa this spring in partnership with Italian airline Neos.
It has now added connections to Thomas Cook Airlines’ long-haul flights from Gatwick to the US and Caribbean and connections to Corsair and La Compagnie flights from Paris Orly, plus Norwegian flights from Paris Charles de Gaulle.
The Worldwide platform allows the booking of connecting flights between partner airlines without a need for the ‘interline’ and codeshare arrangements required of network carriers.
EasyJet said connections to Norwegian flights from Amsterdam Schiphol will follow this summer, along with connecting flights on as yet unnamed carriers from Venice and Berlin Tegel.
The carrier will also add connections to Loganair flights from Edinburgh and Inverness, although no start date has been confirmed.
EasyJet said: “Over half the airline’s flights and 53 million easyJet customers a year will be able to connect to airline partner services and other easyJet flights in a single booking.”
Johan Lundgren, easyJet chief executive said: “We’ve been delighted with the appetite of partner airports and airlines to expand our Worldwide by easyJet connections platform.
“EasyJet will sign up other airlines throughout 2018, with talks already far advanced with middle and far-eastern carriers and we plan to expand to other easyJet airports across Europe.”
Thomas Cook chief airlines officer Christoph Debus said: “We have added an aircraft at London Gatwick, increasing capacity at the airport by 12% this summer to meet customer demand.”