Easyjet put “all the meat on the grill”, guaranteeing the maximum possible offer to win the 18 seats that TAP had to give away at the Lisbon airport. The general director, José Lopes, explained that the British company made a “more aggressive” proposal because then “the door was closed” and it would take 5 to 10 years for the new airport solution to arise for new growth opportunities.
The delivery of 18 daily slots at the main Portuguese airport was a unique opportunity. “There is no longer an opportunity for anyone to enter and grow with this brutal increase in capacity in Lisbon, an airport that is congested,” he defended at a press conference held on Tuesday in Lisbon.
José Lopes added that the Easyjet proposal that won the contest organized by the European Commission was chosen based on the first evaluation criterion: the offer with the most capacity in the use of the 18 daily slots. “That is where we focused our proposal, which allowed us to use the 18 time slots every day”, which corresponds to a reinforcement of three planes, in a proposal that surpassed Ryanair, but also offers from other companies that participated in this contest and that they were not identified due to the confidentiality rules imposed by Brussels.
Easyjet beats Ryanair and guarantees TAP slots at Lisbon airport
Easyjet hopes to become the second largest company in Lisbon thanks to this reinforcement, but cannot yet reveal the details of the new routes, nor the investment and number of workers. It will depend on the final adjustment that is reached with TAP, justified José Lopes. A difference of 20 minutes in the time slot may require readjustments in the map of destinations and times. The objective is to be able to announce as soon as possible the start of the sale of seats on flights operated in the new time slots, which will be available from October 1, the beginning of winter time.
Until then, the general manager of Easyjet in Portugal admits that it will be a difficult summer and not only in Portugal. The UK-based low-cost airline announced this week the cancellation of thousands of flights, mainly at London’s Gatwick and Amsterdam Schiphol airports due to restrictions on the services of these infrastructures. This wave of cancellations will have a residual effect in Lisbon with only 8 flights affected during the summer, added José Lopes. But Lisbon does not escape the disturbances that have affected European airports, caused mainly by social conflicts related to the Immigration and Border Service.
Even without counting the new offer of the 18 Lisbon slots, Easyjet is operating this summer with 20% more capacity than it had in 2019, before the pandemic. José Lopes also indicated that the company increased its participation in Portugal to 13%, in terms of the capacity of seats offered. This is an increase of 2 percentage points compared to 2019. Data from OAG, an international aviation consultancy, indicates that TAP is the largest company in terms of seats offered with 29%, but lost share compared to 2019 for Easyjet, but also for Ryanar. ,
Source: Observadora
