november-2010

“THE AIRLINE’S
DECISION TO
OPERATE FROM
LIVERPOOL
WAS THE
CATALYST TO
AMAZING
GROWTH HERE
IN RECENT
YEARS”
TRANSFORMING CITIES | EUROPE
Passengers of all incomes can now afford
to fl y abroad several times a year. That
means that owning and maintaining a
holiday home abroad is a realistic option for
more people, and the trend for commuting
to work in another country by plane is
taking off. Access to affordable fl ights
has become an important quality of life
indicator in the West.
But the passengers aren’t the only ones
to benefi t from this revolution. According
to a standard industry measure, every extra
million passengers in the sky bring 3,000
jobs on the ground. And easyJet has allowed
regional cities to forge direct business and
cultural links between one another. “easyJet
and other low-cost airlines have transformed
the concept of neighbouring cities,” says
Casey. “Today, Barcelona’s neighbours
aren’t just Valencia and Madrid, but also
Newcastle, Rome and Marrakech.”
The notion that the “golden days of air
travel” are over is nonsense, he reckons.
“We are living in the golden days of air
travel now. Yes, people may no longer look
like a 1960s movie star when they board a
plane, but ordinary people can now not only
dream about foreign and exotic places, but
actually visit them, get to know them and
maybe even one day call these new places
home. easyJet has given us more choice and
mobility than ever before, and that surely
has to be celebrated.”
LIVERPOOL
Awarded UNESCO World Heritage status
in 2004 for its Maritime Mercantile centre,
Liverpool was named European Capital of
Culture four years later, drawing 15 million
people and £800m (€926m) to the city. Of
course easyJet can’t claim credit for all that,
but the airline has played a major part in the
renaissance of this great maritime city.
The airline fi rst started to operate from
Liverpool in October 1997 with services
to Amsterdam and Nice. Back then it was
easyJet’s second UK base, and the fi rst
low-cost service in England outside of
the south-east.
It was a turning point for the airport,
says Robin Tudor, head of PR at Peel, which
operates Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
In 1996, Liverpool’s airport handled just
15 TH BIRTHDAY ISSUE | TRAVELLER | 65