easyJet Announces Opening of New Base at Newcastle Airport

easyJet has today announced that in March 2026 they will open a new base at Newcastle Airport with three based aircraft, creating approximately 130 direct jobs for pilots, crew and engineers, while supporting around 1,200 UK jobs in total.

easyJet to Open New Base at Newcastle Airport in March 2026 - Courtesy easyJet

On Thursday (May 22, 2025), easyJet announced that they will open their 11th UK base at Newcastle Airport in March 2026, with three based aircraft.  The base is expected to create around 130 direct jobs for pilots, crew and engineers, while supporting approximately 1,200 UK jobs in total.  This will enable easyJet to expand their Newcastle network, serving an extensive catchment area across the North of England and Southern Scotland.  easyJet currently offers flights and holidays from Newcastle to popular beach and city destinations, including Alicante, Amsterdam, Geneva, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Paris, Bristol and Belfast.  A range of new routes and package holidays for next summer will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

In Thursday’s announcement, easyJet’s CEO, Kenton Jarvis, said,

“The UK is an important market for easyJet, and we are excited to be opening yet another UK base, in Newcastle, driven by the demand for our flights and package holidays.  This not only consolidates our position as the UK’s largest leisure airline but will create many skilled jobs and provide critical connectivity for the region, playing an important role in enabling vital economic growth for the UK. 

“It’s clear that holidays are increasing in importance and more than ever are a priority for UK consumers.  With our unrivalled short-haul network and unique easyJet holidays, we’re able to offer greater choice and value for money, making travel easy for more customers in the North East and beyond - and we look forward to welcoming them onboard.”

Newcastle Airport’s Chief Executive, Nick Jones, added,

“It is fantastic that easyJet has chosen to open a new base at Newcastle Airport in spring 2026 following such strong demand for flights and package holidays from our passengers.  This investment will not only offer greater connectivity with the launch of new routes, but it will also deliver hundreds of thousands of additional low-cost seats and package holidays for our passengers; a significant boost to the local economy by creating high-quality jobs and attract more inbound visitors to the region. 

“We already know the Airport is a key economic driver for the North East, contributing more than £1 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) each year.  The new base will further strengthen our long-standing partnership with easyJet and we’re excited about the opportunities it will bring to the Airport and the wider region.”

Newcastle will become easyJet’s 11th UK base, joining other recently opened bases, including London Southend which opened in March, and Birmingham International Airport last year.  Additionally, seven new aircraft have joined easyJet’s UK fleet this summer.  The UK is easyJet’s largest market, with 56 percent of all customers flying to/from a UK airport. 

easyJet is the UK’s largest leisure airline, employing over 14,000 team members across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.  The UK is also the carrier’s single largest market, where they currently operate ten bases across the country, including London Gatwick, London Luton, London Southend, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast.  Founded in the UK nearly 30 years ago, easyJet has flown over 800 million customers, and is set to operate 100 million seats this year alone.  The airline now serves 21 UK airports, offering more than 500 routes from the UK to over 120 destinations in 30 countries across Europe and North America.

Source: easyJet