Travellers are being offered the opportunity of booking EasyJet flights from October at specially reduced rates. The low-cost airline company has responded to the coronavirus pandemic, and widespread flight schedule cancellations over the past week, to bring forward its annual winter sale.
All autumn 2020-winter 2021 flights on sale (for between 25 October 2020 and 28 February 2021) will be £29.99 one way, including taxes and charges. To benefit from these savings – applying to destinations across Europe including Milan – customers need to book before midnight on 24 March 2020.
In an official statement, EasyJet said the sale, going live today (Thursday 19 March), “will allow many customers who have had their recent travel plans disrupted even more choice of dates to move their flights with no change fee, including Christmas and February half-term breaks. Customers whose EasyJet holidays have been impacted can also book a new winter holiday from Thursday 19 March taking advantage of the exceptional value available across hundreds of destinations.”
The announcement followed advice by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office that Britons should avoid all but essential international travel for 30 days (effective from Tuesday 17 March).
For those whose Easter and summer holiday plans have been affected by the global coronavirus pandemic, over 147,000 flights are scheduled throughout EasyJet’s network between 25 October 2020 and 28 February 2021. These will provide more than nine million seats “for passengers to organise a half-term family break, catch some winter sun, or head off on ski and city breaks”. Five million of these seats are now on sale across 78,000 flights to and from the UK.
Announcing the initiative, EasyJet chief commercial officer Robert Carey said, “We’ve taken the decision to put our flights for the winter season on sale today in order to support customers as much as possible during this time. For the first time flights will also go on sale with a flat fee of £29.99 including taxes and charges. Customers are also able to change their existing plans should they need to, or book a new break, with the reassurance that a change fee will not be applied.”
For customers who have had to alter their travel plans, EasyJet has also waived the change fee associated with changing flights. According to EasyJet, all customers will be able to change the dates of their upcoming flights to any time before February 2021. The change fee waiver “applies to both existing and new bookings until further notice”.
In an earlier statement this week, EasyJet reported that capacity cuts would continue on a rolling basis for the foreseeable future, with the possibility that the majority of the fleet could be grounded.
“We are doing everything in our power to rise to the challenges of the coronavirus,” said chief executive Johan Lundgren, “so that we can continue to provide the benefits that aviation brings to people, the economy and business.
“We continue to operate rescue and repatriation flights to get people home where we can, so they can be with family and friends in these difficult times. European aviation faces a precarious future and it is clear that coordinated government backing will be required to ensure the industry survives and is able to continue to operate when the crisis is over.”
Click here for details about all flights to and from Milan’s Malpensa Airport.
