MP calls on easyJet to reconsider cuts plans

AIRLINE easyJet has been asked to reconsider plans to axe international flights from Newcastle Airport.

And Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is under pressure to provide more support for the airline industry, including extending the Government’s furlough scheme, to prevent further job cuts.

Jarrow MP Kate Osborne has written to both Mr Shapps and easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren, after the budget airline announced it was closing its North East base alongside operations at London Stansted and Southend, putting 670 jobs at risk in total.

Airline easyJet currently has three aircraft based at Newcastle Airport and operates up to 79 departures per week to popular holiday destinations including Alicante, Barcelona, Corfu, Malaga and Split.

The airline has decided to scrap all international flights from the region from September 1, other than flights to and from Nice, which continue until the end of October.

Newcastle Airport has said it is in discussions with other airlines to see if they will provide replacement services.

In her letter to Mr Lundgren, Ms Osborne said: “Am writing today to ask you to reconsider your decision to close easyJet’s North East base and the scrapping of international flights from Newcastle Airport.”

She warned: “By closing the North East base, easyJet are making dedicated, skilled workers redundant, cutting the availability of flights from this region and pushing prices of flights from other airlines up.

“The North East is a region that has already suffered at the hands of regional inequality. We have had decades of underinvestment and deprivation in many of our communities. By scrapping international flights from Newcastle Airport, this will mean many families will lose out on the opportunity of affordable holidays due to having to travel out of the region for flights.”

The MP said she was pushing the Department for Transport to offer more support to the air industry.

In a letter to Mr Shapps, she urged the Government to extend the job retention scheme, known as the furlough scheme, for the civil air industry until the summer of 2021, when many households are likely to take a holiday.

The scheme is currently being wound down and is due to end in October.