Easyjet is ready to challenge Lufthansa in Germany!

EasyJet is ready to break Lufthansa’s short-lived monopoly on domestic German flights.

Easyjet will spend around €40 million ($47 million) acquiring the 25 Air Berlin planes that weren’t scooped up by Lufthansa when the German carrier bought up the bulk of its bankrupt rival in October. EasyJet announced today that will move from its current home in Berlin’s Schönefeld Airport to the city’s other hub at Tegel.

From 5 January there will be 250 weekly connections from Berlin to Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart, Easyjet announced on Wednesday. In addition, one will offer 15 international routes – for example, to Paris, Vienna, Zurich and popular holiday destinations such as Mallorca.

“EasyJet is proud to deliver more competition and lower fares to passengers in Germany, particularly on domestic routes where there is currently limited choice,” said Thomas Haagensen, managing director for EasyJet in Europe.

Seats for the new routes are on sale for flights between 5 January and 24 March. Easyjet plans to announce additional new routes from Tegel for the summer season, starting at the end of March, “in due course”.

While the announcement means fresh competition for Lufthansa, it may also ease the capacity pressure on the airline, which has been struggling to handle domestic demand. The 80 Air Berlin planes it bought are grounded until the takeover gets competition approval, and it has had to put a 747 on the Berlin-Frankfurt route to increase capacity.

It’s going to be good news for passengers: The lack of options—there has been just a choice of Lufthansa or Lufthansa-owned Eurowings—has driven up ticket prices. Air Berlin’s former workers will be happy too—EasyJet intends to employ around 1,000 of them.

Source: Independent

Easyjet