www.Parctel.com: Love is in the air today especially for one lucky passenger who triggered celebrations at Liverpool John Lennon Airport by helping it become a 5 million passenger per year Airport. Having just arrived at JLA onboard easyJet's morning flight from Paris, Ms Bour Laurence was just about to reclaim her luggage when Airport staff surprised her and informed her that she had just helped the Airport break through the 5 million passenger per year mark.
Arriving on Merseyside for three months of studies at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, Medical Student Ms Bour Laurence, 21, accompanied by her fellow student Mr Martineau Aurelien, 22, both from Angers, near Nantes was presented with a pair of return flights courtesy of easyJet and two nights accommodation and meal for two, courtesy of The Capital of Culture Company to return to the City during the 08 celebrations next year.
The Airport just missed reaching this milestone at the end of 2006, rounding off another record year for staff at JLA with just under 5 million passengers choosing to use the Airport representing a 13% increase in passenger business compared to 2005 with over half a million additional passengers using Liverpool.
Once again this continued growth can be largely attributed to the increase in the number of destinations available from Liverpool with a total of 28 new services introduced by a number of airlines over the past 12 months.
Highlights include Ryanair's dramatic expansion at Liverpool, having introduced 21 new services over the past year taking their total to 35 destinations served from Liverpool and carrying some 1.9 million passengers - 61% more than in the previous 12 month period.
easyJet continue to be JLA's largest customer carrying some 2.3 million passengers with new services in 2006 to Marseille, Krakow, Mahon and Faro, whilst Wizz Air carried 74,000 more passengers last year on their successful services to Warsaw, Katowice and Gdansk.
Katie Stitson, easyJet Marketing Manager for Liverpool, said: “easyJet is delighted to have carried the 5 millionth passenger from Paris to Liverpool John Lennon Airport today. easyJet is the largest airline in Liverpool and has carried over 15 million passengers from its North-West base since it began operations in 1997. Later this year easyJet is looking forward to celebrating its 10th Birthday at JLA and next year will bring millions of visitors to Liverpool as it celebrates its status as the European Capital of Culture in 2008.”
Neil Pakey, Chief Executive of Peel Airports, commented: "I'm delighted to say that JLA is now a 5 million passenger per year airport. This is a tremendous achievement for all the staff here at the Airport who worked hard to reach this milestone. We have continued to work with the airlines to develop new routes and new business to enable JLA to offer more in the way of choice to its passengers.
“This is also a great success for the region as visitors from across Europe have had more opportunity to visit the region by flying direct to Liverpool. We are now less than 11 months away from the City's Capital of Culture celebrations and with all these new cities and regions linked by air with Liverpool we are better placed than ever before to attract visitors to this great region.
"Looking ahead, 2007 will see some further significant milestones for the Airport, none more so than the important New York JFK service that starts in May and I am confident that by the start of 2008 even more new services will have been announced."
Council Leader Warren Bradley, said:
''JLA's growth is one of the great success stories of Liverpool's renaissance and a sign post to the city's long term future prosperity. Thanks to the billions being invested in new hotels, the arena or Liverpool One and the triple whammy of World Heritage status, our 800th birthday and 2008 European Capital of Culture, Liverpool is on the lips of every major tourist operator. Let's face it, tourists in Liverpool are spoilt for choice when it comes to culture, heritage and nightlife and the quality of that experience is only going to get better. And thanks to the support of Ryanair and easyJet and the upcoming New York link, the only way is up for both JLA and Liverpool.''
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