Budget airline easyJet is to base a 14th aircraft at Bristol Airport next summer as it continues to grow its route network and increase frequencies on flights to popular destinations.
The airline is already the airport’s largest operator with links to 60 cities – giving it a 54% market share. 
But having introduced new services this year – including to Dubrovnik, Nantes and Venice – and bringing a 13th plane to the airport it has announced further expansion at Bristol. Flights to another new destination, Turin, begin next month.
EasyJet UK commercial manager Ali Gayward said additional destinations would be introduced next year and frequencies increased on some popular routes as a result of the airline basing a 14th aircraft in Bristol.
Details of the new routes will be announced soon. EasyJet is also to introduce its new 186-seat Airbus A320 aircraft on some Bristol routes and is also retrofitting the remainder of its 180-seat A320 fleet with six additional seats – increasing capacity on some routes.
It will also continue to operate around 140, 156-seat A319 aircraft. The airline employs 487 people at Bristol Airport.
The increases at Bristol were announced alongside easyJet’s financial results for the year to September 30 – a period described as “incredibly challenging” by Ali Gayward.
She said the airline had weathered events out of its control – including the impact of the weak pound against the euro following the EU referendum – to produce record results.
The airline carried a record 73.1m passengers during the year, up 6.6% year on year with a record load factor of 91.6% – up from 91.5% in the previous year.
The airline said this reflected its “resilient business model and ability to drive demand, even in challenging markets”.
Capacity grew by 6.5% in the period to 80m seats, as easyJet strengthened its leadership positions in selected markets.
Ms Gayward said currency fluctuations would harm its smaller rivals more.
Annual revenues came in at £4.67m – a decline of 0.4% – and revenue per seat of £58.46 – a decline of 6.4% and of 6.9% at constant currency.
