Airline plans to fill Easyjet gap

Low-cost airline bmibaby has announced plans to run extra flights on existing routes from East Midlands Airport after Easyjet's decision to pull out.

An airport spokesperson said bmibaby and other low-cost airlines had indicated they could also take on eight of the nine routes dropped by Easyjet.

Easyjet said it was pulling out of the Castle Donington site to go to what it believed were more profitable airports.

Jet2 announced it was moving to the airport from next spring.

We will remain committed to East Midlands Airport Crawford Rix managing director of bmibaby

One destination, Venice, may be lost as a result of Easyjet's move.

But other routes, including Barcelona and Geneva, are expected to be operated by other airlines, an airport spokeswoman added.

Crawford Rix, managing director of bmibaby, said: "We want to reassure the people of the region we will remain committed to East Midlands Airport.

"As a result of Easyjet's decision to leave the airport, we will be increasing capacity over our current network so that the East Midlands market continues to have the capacity it needs.

"East Midlands Airport is home to bmibaby and we are currently exploring other opportunities to fill the gap left by EasyJet at the airport."

Easyjet has said flights to and from the airport up to the end of the year will be unaffected by the announcement.

A spokesperson said: "We cannot see a growing long-term future and we have decided to move our assets to markets with better long-term potential."

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