First easyJet flight took off from Berlin Tegel Airport

• easyJet’s first domestic flight in Germany takes off on 5 January 2018
• The airline expects to carry 18 million passengers to and from Germany, offering more competition, more choice and lower fares to customers

easyJet celebrated its inaugural flight from Tegel Airport in Berlin and its first-ever domestic flight in Germany. Flight EZY5569 to Munich took off at 10:30 local time on 5 January, following a festive opening ceremony at the airport. Customers travelling on the flight all received a commemorative easyJet Berlin teddy bear as a gift prior to departure.

easyJet has already announced 19 new routes from Tegel airport, including four domestic routes, connecting the capital to Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart up to eight times per day.

Flights to 15 international destinations, including flights up to 5 times a day to key cities like Vienna and Zurich, as well as regular connections to popular leisure destinations like Mallorca and Catania will take off in the coming months.

As soon as easyJet is in full operation at Tegel, the airline will transport a total of 18 million passengers to and from Germany – to a total of 116 destinations, from easyJet’s 9 German airports. To achieve this, easyJet has stationed 37 aeroplanes in Germany and employed up to 1,700 people. In 2018, one in every five easyJet passengers will either start or end their journey in Germany.

Thomas Haagensen, Country Director easyJet: “We are very happy that we’re able to expand our network from Berlin with the launch of our first new routes from Tegel. We want to grow and expand further in Germany so we can make travelling for passengers simple and affordable. easyJet has been a reliable partner for the people and the region of Berlin and Brandenburg for a long time. Since the opening of our base in Schönefeld in 2004, 50 million people have already flow with us.”

“easyJet is number one when it comes to bringing European guests to Berlin and Brandenburg and through this, strengthening the capital’s already flourishing tourism“, Haagensen further added. “We bring more Europeans to Berlin than any other airline. Our new offers in Tegel airport are especially attractive for business travellers. The early departure times make day trips to important destinations in Germany and other German-speaking countries possible.”

“We’re looking forward to pooling our activities in Berlin at Berlin-Brandenburg airport as soon as the airport is open in October 2020,” said Haagensen. “Then, Berlin will be the second largest easyJet base, twice the size of any other base, with the exception of London Gatwick. This will be fundamental in building further investments for easyJet.”

Rainer Bretschneider, airport coordinator of the Brandenburg state government as state secretary in the state chancellery commented: “After nearly 14 years of involvement of easyJet in Schönefeld, the added incorporation of Tegel in the flight plan represents a further strong commitment for the capital region of Berlin-Brandenburg. The new easyJet base strengthens the location, provides attractive connections and ensures important work job opportunities in the capital region.”

Professor Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, Chairman of the Board of Berlin Brandenburg Airport GmbH commented: “With the expansion to Tegel, easyJet is expanding its strong position in Berlin. This makes TXL and SXF the most important location for the airline outside of the UK. The decision made by easyJet shows how important the region is for the European aviation industry also in the future, and demonstrates the importance of the airports as drivers of growth in Berlin and Brandenburg.”

easyJet is also looking forward to welcoming hundreds of new people to the easyJet family from Air Berlin. easyJet has been recruiting to support its expansion in Germany and has already started training new cabin crew and pilots. Some 40 cabin crew members have already started their training in December and a further 330 have passed the selection process and are due to commence training in the coming months. The first 30 pilots will start their training in January and February, with 255 more pilots still going through the selection process.

All employees will be employed on local, German contracts and with collective labour agreements, negotiated with Ver.di. As well as recruiting new crew easyJet will also transfer former Air Berlin aircraft to the easyJet fleet over the next few months and to support the flying schedule from Tegel during this period easyJet will wet lease additional aircraft to operate flights alongside easyJet planes.

The airline plans to announce additional new routes from Tegel for the summer season starting on 25 March 2018 in due course.