EasyJet has ordered up to 47 Boeing 737-700s, including options and 17 firm orders, as it prepares to create a new hub at Amsterdam Schiphol by the end of the year.
The London Luton-based low-cost airline is gearing up for a tripling of traffic to 15 million passengers annually by 2004.
EasyJet's all-737 fleet includes 18 -300s, and the latest deal takes its -700 orders to 32 aircraft, which are due for delivery between October 2000 and May 2004. The new batch is due from July 2001, and options are held on 30 737s. A flotation is planned for the end of the year to help finance the fleet expansion, which is expected to value the airline at about £500 million ($794 million).
EasyJet chairman Stelios Haji-Iannou says the airline aims to become "the Dutch low-cost carrier", when its new hub in Amsterdam opens later this year. The network, which includes hubs in Luton, Liverpool and Geneva, covers 28 points in six countries. EasyJet intends to enter the German and Italian markets over the next four years.
EasyJet Switzerland, the Geneva-based arm created by the purchase of TEA Switzerland, operates four of the group's 737s.
Source: Flight International
