Low-cost carrier easyjet PLC (LON:EZJ) has signed agreements that allow its passengers to transfer on to Norwegian Air and WestJet long-haul flights at Gatwick airport.
It is part of an initiative the airline calls “Worldwide by easyJet”.
According to the no-frills operator's web site, all you need to do is decide where you want to fly to and it will connect you through London Gatwick … great if you want to fly from Southend to Ulaanbaatar – although the Mongolian capital is not one of the 100+ destinations offered by easyJet.
“Fancy travelling long haul?” the web site asks.
“You can book flights with our partner airlines and add your connecting easyJet flights via London Gatwick in a single booking. With simple bag transfer and missed connection cover travelling around the world just got a whole lot easier,” it added.
Liberum Securities said it was difficult to get a handle on how beneficial the initiative would be to easyJet; easyJet notes that 1% of its Gatwick passengers already self-connect between easyJet flights.
“Management sees scope to add other airlines and to replicate the model at other major bases. easyJet will also begin selling tickets for other airlines on its own website. The initial partner here is Loganair. Both initiatives offer the scope for incremental revenue (easyJet’s load factors are so high that the volume upside is limited, but there is scope to push unit revenues higher on better demand),” the broker said.
Liberum has an 1100p target price on easyJet shares, which were up 1.8% at 1,215.75p on wednesday morning, and rates the shares a sell.