easyjet bought 25 AB jets
 

In a last minute move to secure existing slots easyjet last night shelled out 40M EUR and steps into leasing contracts for 25 jets and wants to hire 1.000 crew. They intend to service AB TXL european and intra-german routes with a slow start in winter 17/18 and a full flight plan for summer 18.

IMO very good move and important to keep fares within bounds at LH.

Source: https://mediacentre.easyjet.com/en/s...ith-air-berlin

It seems they will become the largest operator out of TXL next year. Lets hope it doesn't end like their experiment of a hub in HAM.

It curious that neither of the two biggest LCCs in Europe FR or U2 have made the same impact in Germany as we have seen elsewhere.

I don't think you can compare a 3 or 4 aircraft operation in HAM with a 25 aircraft operation in a slot restricted airport like TXL.

Easyjet has already a base in SXF, probably they will consolidate all the Berlin operations at TXL

Not so sure about that. Easyjet already has a sizeable operation at SXF for current EU destinations and they enjoy the fact that charges there are about 40% lower than TXL.

They seem to be quite comfortable operating several bases in other cities (LTN, LGW, STN for example).

I reckon they will use TXL for domestic flights (i.e. inside Germany) which will put them in a much better position to underprice LH/EW/GW on a like-to-like basis.

Of course they will consolidate their operations in one place eventually, when BER opens and TXL closes (and flying pigs are observed over the skies of Berlin...)

Finally, some good news ^

Easyjet has started filing their new schedule ex Berlin starting January. It looks like we will have 32 daily flights between Munich and Berlin ... 20x LH, 4x EW and 8x U2 :o. And of course the new 4h ICE sprinter service lauches this month.

here is the schedule flight out of TXL for January 2018

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38...from-jan-2018/


asyJet today announced new service at Berlin Tegel, serving up to 19 destinations, including 4 key domestic routes. Planned service will commence from the first week of January 2018.

On Domestic routes, the airline will serve up to 19 daily flights on weekdays.

Berlin Tegel – Dusseldorf eff 07JAN18 2 daily (1 on Saturdays)
Berlin Tegel – Frankfurt eff 07JAN18 5 daily (4 on Saturdays)
Berlin Tegel – Munich eff 07JAN18 8 daily (5 on Saturdays, 6 on Sundays; 1 flight also scheduled on 05JAN18)
Berlin Tegel – Stuttgart eff 07JAN18 4 daily (3 on Saturdays)

The airline will also introduce following European service from Berlin Tegel from January 2018.

Berlin Tegel – Budapest eff 08JAN18 1 daily
Berlin Tegel – Catania eff 08JAN18 1 daily
Berlin Tegel – Copenhagen eff 07JAN18 2 daily
Berlin Tegel – Fuerteventura eff 03FEB18 1 weekly
Berlin Tegel – Helsinki eff 01MAR18 1 daily
Berlin Tegel – Madrid eff 07JAN18 1 daily
Berlin Tegel – Milan Malpensa eff 01MAR18 1 daily
Berlin Tegel – Palma Mallorca eff 07JAN18 2 daily
Berlin Tegel – Paphos eff 03MAR18 1 weekly
Berlin Tegel – Paris CDG eff 07JAN18 1 daily (2 daily from 01FEB18)
Berlin Tegel – Rome eff 07JAN18 1 daily (2 daily from 01MAR18)
Berlin Tegel – Stockholm Arlanda eff 01MAR18 2 daily
Berlin Tegel – Tel Aviv eff 01FEB18 1 daily
Berlin Tegel – Vienna eff 07JAN18 4 daily (5 daily from 01FEB18, 4 daily on Saturdays)
Berlin Tegel – Zurich eff 07JAN18 4 daily (3 daily on Saturdays; 5 daily from 01FEB18, 4 on Saturdays)

I investigated a few FRA-TXL-FRA day returns in Jan and March and always got a price of roughly 100 Euro for the return ticket. Quite good schedule also with departures FRA to TXL at 7:30 and 8:30 and a late return at 20:55 from TXL. Better schedule and way better price compared to the late AB schedule. Glad to have this option as an alternative to LH.

EW has a somewhat reduced schedule, barely usable for FRA-TXL-FRA day returns. only early morning service leaves FRA at 8:30, latest return leaves TXL at 18:00. Also fare for basic is 140 Euro return in April.

So I guess easyjet will get some business from us in the future...

Also from the ZRH end the schedule and fares look good. A bit of a surprise is the reduced schedule on Saturdays, since this is the busiest day on that route ... but may be this is just at the beginning ...

Good for the competition! This will have a good effect on LH prices on that route!