BOOST FOR INVESTORS AS EASYJET BUYS GB AIRWAYS

Easyjet has announced that following its acquisition of GB Airways in October, it is making 32 extra flight destinations available to travellers this year.

The property industries of Egypt, the Canary Islands, Corfu, Corsica, the Greek Islands, Malta and Turkey are expected to receive a boost as investors and lifestyle buyers cash in on what has become known as the ‘easyJet effect’. “This is very exciting for people who are looking to or have purchased property in one or more of the 32 new destinations that easyJet has announced,” said Steve Worboys, director of overseas property specialists Experience International. “Whether they are holiday homes or an investment property, there are gains to be had from the increase in flights.”Property buyers in Egypt will benefit significantly from easyJet’s new low-cost routes to Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh, whilst Turkey and Morocco will enjoy greater access with the budget airline flying into Dalaman airport and Marrakech. Northern exposure
The purchase of GB Airways, part of the British Airways franchise, will see easyJet scrap the airline’s routes from Heathrow, but retain GB’s flights operating out of Manchester airport. The company said the retention is part of a strategic plan to become the north-west’s biggest airline, carrying over 4million passengers annually, and is good news for agents selling to buyers in the UK’s north. easyJet also announced its plans to upgrade the airline’s facilities and operate more flights out of its Liverpool base at John Lennon airport. The budget airline said in a statement that, by 2010, it will have access to the two principal airports of the north-west, giving the company a passenger catchment area of some 8million people flying them to over 40 worldwide routes. This commitment has been welcomed by overseas property specialists which recognise the ability of budget airlines to transform a country’s property market.

“The ease of access to a property has a real impact on its success as a holiday home as well as its future sale value,” said Mark Bodega, director of currency exchange specialists HiFX. The organisation points to the example of Dordogne in France, where property prices have risen 157% since low-cost airlines began flying there in the year 2000.

“Interestingly, the established, medium-distance destinations such as Cyprus and the Canary Islands, where the flight time is about four hours, achieve the greatest capital value premium because of the availability of low-cost flights,” he added.