EasyJet bids to double hotel room sales

EasyJet is aiming to double the number of passengers who book accommodation with their flights.

The company has relaunched its package holiday business, pledging to offer industry-leading flexibility, ease of booking and hotel range.

Just half a million of the 20 million people who fly with easyJet for a holiday each year currently book their accommodation through the airline.

The easyJet Holidays business – launched on Thursday – is aiming to reach one million customers in 2020.

The airline has more than 330 aircraft flying up to 670 routes a day to beach and city destinations.

EasyJet Holidays chief executive Garry Wilson told the PA news agency that the scale of the airline means the “opportunities are endless” for selling accommodation.

He said: “We really think we can come in and we can disrupt the market in holidays in the same way that we disrupted the market for flights all those years ago, and really take that innovative, pioneering spirit of easyJet for the holidays market.

“The opportunity is huge for us. At the moment we have got 20 million customers (each year) who fly on an easyJet flight having bought a holiday and only half a million of those have actually bought the holiday from us.

“If we focus just on those customers, there’s 19.5 million opportunities for passengers that we can sell our holidays to.”

EasyJet Holidays said the number of flights operated by the airline means it will have better peak-time holiday availability than other holiday firms.

Customers can choose from 5,000 hotels handpicked by the company across more than 100 destinations.

Mr Wilson said the firm has been “inundated with hoteliers” asking if they can work together following the collapse of Thomas Cook.

He claimed easyJet Holidays trips will not feel like traditional package holidays, as customers will not board easyJet coaches for their transfers or stay in easyJet branded hotels, and there will be no reps in resorts.

“It will feel very independent in terms of how they are building that holiday and how that holiday is delivered,” he said.

Mr Wilson added: “We know customers want flexibility on when and how they holiday.

“We know they want to be able to easily pick a hotel to suit their needs and we know they want a hassle-free booking process.”