easyJet flies 12m business passengers a year for first time

easyJet has announced that it carried 12m business travellers in the 12 months to end of March 2014 - the first time the airline has broken through that milestone. Around one in five of easyJet’s 62m passengers are travelling with easyJet for business.

easyJet carried 8.4m passengers a year on business in 2010 which means that the airline has increased business traveller numbers by 44%, while retaining yields.

Over the course of 2013 easyJet has continued to develop its product for business passengers – offering them a new Inclusive Fare which joins the popular Flexi Fare and also offering free fast track through security for business passengers at the majority of its primary airports. Building on this, easyJet has continued to sign deals with travel management companies and with major public and private sector organisations.

Carolyn McCall, chief executive of easyJet, commented: "The increase in business travellers flying with easyJet shows that we are delivering on the strategy we launched in 2010 to increase our appeal to the business travel sector. Enhancements like allocated seating, Inclusive Fares and Fast Track security have all played a part in enabling easyJet to attract more high yielding business passengers and to win a larger slice of the corporate market.

“Recession and austerity has also encouraged business passengers across Europe to sample easyJet and when they do so they like the experience and the great value and they tend to stay with us. 95 per cent of passengers travelling on business say they will fly with us again which shows that this focus by businesses on value is here to stay.

“The increase in business travellers could also be seen as an encouraging sign of the increasing confidence of businesses across Europe as a number of countries, including the UK, start to edge back into economic growth.

“easyJet’s winning combination of the most comprehensive network of business destinations coupled with our famous low fares and friendly service means that we will continue to be well positioned to take further market share."

In recent month’s easyJet picked up the award for Best Short-Haul airline at the prestigious Business Travel Awards which is judged by industry experts and corporate travel bookers.

easyJet was one of the first in the low cost sector to make its inventory available to business travel bookers through GDS partners in 2007. The GDS partnerships easyJet has built have meant it has been able to successfully grow its presence in the business travel market. The airline has also signed a large number of corporate contracts in the past two years.

Last year easyJet launched an Inclusive Fare for corporate passengers and travel bookers looking for easy, one-step transactions. The great value fare combines services important to corporate bookers, such as a bag and seat selection. The new Inclusive Fare is only available through the GDS and other booking systems connected to the easyJet API.

The airline operates the leading European network flying on more of the top 100 routes than any other airline.