easyJet has announced further UK growth with plans to open a three-aircraft base at Newcastle Airport in March 2026, creating around 130 direct jobs for pilots, crew and engineers and supporting around 1200* UK jobs in total.

The base opening will enable easyJet to expand its network from Newcastle and serve an extensive catchment area across the North of England and Southern Scotland, helping to support vital UK connectivity outside of London.

easyJet already offers flights and holidays on eight routes from Newcastle to popular beach and city destinations Alicante, Amsterdam, Geneva, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Paris, Bristol and Belfast, and a range of new routes and package holidays for next summer are set to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

The opening of an 11th UK base is part of easyJet’s strategy to take advantage of key growth opportunities across its network. The additional base strengthens easyJet’s network by enabling the airline to further grow its share of the UK leisure market and drive easyJet holidays’ rapid growth.

The move signals a continued trajectory of growth in the UK for the airline, having already launched a base at London Southend in March and at Birmingham International Airport last year. In addition to this, seven additional aircraft have joined its UK fleet this summer.

The UK is easyJet’s largest market with 56% of all easyJet customers flying to and from UK airports. The airline is set to operate its biggest ever UK flying programme this summer with over 33 million seats – half a million more than last year – and 44 new routes including three new network points, fuelled by strong demand for easyJet’s flights and package holidays.

A survey of 2000 British consumers by the airline earlier this month revealed that holidays continue to increase in importance for UK households, with 89% saying a holiday is one of their most important plans for 2025 and nearly two thirds of us (63%) more likely to travel abroad in 2025 than last year.

91% of British consumers intend to book a holiday for 2025 and 88% are prioritising holidays as their main spend after bills, up from 77% in 2024. To help keep costs down, 74% say they are more likely to travel short haul in 2025.

Over three quarters (77%) plan to go on the same number or more holidays vs last year, with 82% saying they plan to spend the same or increase spend on holidays, up from 73% in 2024.

easyJet is the largest leisure airline in the UK and employs over 14,000 people across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.  The UK is easyJet’s single largest market, where it currently operates 10 bases at London Gatwick, London Luton, London Southend, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast.

easyJet was founded in the UK, launching operations nearly 30 years ago. Since then, the airline has flown over 800 million customers and is set to operate 100m seats this year. The airline now serves 21 UK airports offering over 500 routes from the UK to over 120 destinations in 30 countries across Europe and North Africa.

*Each UK-based aircraft directly supports 400 jobs and £27m UK GVA considering direct, indirect and induced impacts according to an independent assessment commissioned by Airlines UK.