Hopes for more UK flights after Easyjet announcement

More flights between France and UK could be on the cards after budget airline Easyjet announced it is to set up a permanent base at Bordeaux airport from next Spring.

In January this year, the airline asked Connexion readers for suggestions for new routes, and hinted in March's edition that it was looking to expand its services from Bordeaux, as well as Nice and Toulouse, within 12 months.

Now it has announced that three A320 aircraft will be permanently based at Bordeaux-Mérignac from March 2018, when at least five new routes will open, as the airline aims to increase its passenger numbers from the airport to 2million.

Details of the new services are being kept under wraps for now, but it is expected that the new routes will serve both tourist and business customers, following the successful launch of flights to Hamburg and Palma, Majorca, in 2017.

Easyjet currently serves 20 cities from Bordeaux, including Bristol, Belfast, Liverpool, Gatwick, Luton and Glasgow, but planes and crew come in from other cities. The decision to open a permanent base will create 110 jobs in the area, the airline said.

The airline started flying in and out of Bordeaux in 2006, and is set to account for 28% of all the airport's traffic this year. France is Easyjet's second largest market after the UK, with a total of 30 aircraft currently based at five airports -