EasyJet's move to close its Toulouse base will affect 125 staff at the French airport.
EasyJet is closing its base at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (TLS) in southern France as part of a restructure of its operations in the country.
The airline cited a slower recovery from the pandemic and inflationary pressures as reasons for the closure. The two aircraft currently based in Toulouse will be relocated to Nantes and Lyon airports from spring 2025.
The move will affect 125 staff in Toulouse, but all employees have been offered a relocation package to other French airports where the LCC operates. EasyJet has six other bases in France at Bordeaux, Lyon, Nantes, Nice, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Paris Orly.
Despite the closure, easyJet says it will maintain service to Toulouse from other airports, adding it would continue “connecting the city to major destinations in France and internationally.” The 20 routes already planned for the winter 2024-25 season are unaffected.
“Together with our social partners, we will provide all our employees in Toulouse the opportunity to transfer to one of our six other bases in France as we highly value our team’s experience and skills," says Bertrand Godinot, easyJet country director for France.
“We will also ensure that those who are unable to leave Toulouse are supported in their search for new roles. Our proposal does not include any compulsory redundancies, and during this consultation our people will remain our priority.”
EasyJet serves 17 routes from TLS at present, flying to six domestic and 11 international destinations. According to OAG Schedules Analyser data, the LCC is currently the third-largest operator from the airport, with an 18.4% capacity share. Air France is the largest, accounting for 24% of all departure seats, followed by Ryanair on 21.4%.
Of the 17 routes served by easyJet from TLS during September 2024, seven are exclusive to the carrier. They are to Berlin, Brussels, EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg, Geneva, London Gatwick, Milan Malpensa and Rhodes, Greece.
A statement from TLS says that the city “remains a preferred destination in the easyJet network” and discussions are ongoing “to build an attractive offer while maintaining quality connectivity.”
EasyJet’s planned base closure coincides with its decision to move one aircraft from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Paris Orly and conduct "a small-scale voluntary redundancy plan for cabin crew based in France at three specific bases." EasyJet employs 1,800 staff in France and says it plans capacity growth from the country of 5% this winter.
EasyJet’s restructure follows Ryanair’s announcement in May that it will close its base at Bordeaux Airport (BOD) in November, blaming rising airport charges. At the time, CCO Jason McGuinness said Ryanair had “no financial alternative” other than to close the base after talks with BOD’s management broke down.
Overall seat capacity from and within France in September 2024 is almost 10.4 million departure seats, equivalent to 98% of 2019 levels. EasyJet’s capacity is up by 3% over the same period, while Ryanair’s is 54% higher.
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