Article from BTNews 11 NOVEMBER 2019
EasyJet snaps up Thomas Cook slots
All the take-off and landing slots owned by Thomas Cook at UK airports were snapped up last week after a bidding war. Slots at Gatwick and Bristol went to easyJet for £36m, those at Manchester, Birmingham and Stansted to Jet2.
Details of the Jet2 deal were undisclosed. Thomas Cook's UK business and airline collapsed six weeks ago (BTN 23 September), triggering the biggest peacetime repatriation in history to bring stranded clients home.
EasyJet bought 12 summer take-off and landing slots (pairs) and eight winter slot pairs at Gatwick, beating off competition from British Airways, Wizz Air and Virgin. At Bristol, it bought six summer slot pairs and one winter slot pair.
The deal opens the door for a much-anticipated major expansion for easyJet at Gatwick. The airline said more details of future plans for the slots will be revealed when it publishes full-year results on 19 November.
Gatwick has been working with easyJet to try out new ways to board passengers at the airport (BTN last week). These include boarding people in window seats first, starting at the back, followed by middle then aisle seats.
(See also this week’s ON TOUR at Bristol Airport).
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