While initially launched as a way to shuttle people between nearby cities on the same continent, low-cost airlines have increasingly been traveling farther differences with the same model of travelers paying a low base fare while forgoing “frills” like a meal and seat selection.
Icelandic low-cost carrier Play flies to European capitals like Reykjavik, Paris and London from multiple cities in the U.S. while competitor Norse Atlantic Airways (NRSAF) recently launched a new flight between London and Cape Town for $600 a seat in each direction — a significant cut from the $2,000 a round-trip flight on a mainstream carrier like South African Airways or British Airways would cost.
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In keeping with the Africa theme, London-based EasyJet (EJTTF) has just announced a new flight between London’s Gatwick Airport (LGW) to Luxor International Airport (LXR) in Egypt that will start running on Nov. 11, 2024. The city of 1.4 million people is located along the Nile River in Southern Egypt and is frequently called the “world’s greatest open-air museum” due to the large number of temples dating back to antiquity. UNESCO has designated the entire city of Luxor as a World Heritage Site back in 1979.
Airline launches new route, promises ‘pharaoh-cious fun’
As the city is more popular among archeologists and history buffs than it is as a tourist destination, EasyJet has stopped flights there despite running routes to Egyptian cities like Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh from the United Kingdom for years without pause.
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“Pharaoh-cious Fun: Anubis tours London for the launch of our Nile cruises!” EasyJet wrote in a cheesy X post announcing the returning route. “The good news is you can now see many of Egypt’s wonders, thanks to our new Luxor holidays and Nile cruises.”
The flight will run three times a week and span 2,144 nautical miles on an Airbus A320neo (EADSF) . The five-hour and twenty-minute route (five hours and 55 minutes for the flight back to London) edges out EasyJet’s current route from London’ Luton Airport (LTN) to Egypt’s Hurghada International Airport (HRG) as the carrier’s longest low-cost flight from London.
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Airline promises customers a ‘fantastic range of leisure destinations’
The difference is only nine nautical miles but the front-runner has still been displaced. EasyJet ran the same flight from 2009 to 2013 but eventually discontinued it to make room for more popular itineraries.
“We’re delighted to be launching even more new routes from airports across the UK to a fantastic range of leisure destinations, meaning we’re now offering over 41 new routes including three brand new destinations on our network from this winter,” easyJet’s UK Country Manager Ali Gayward said in a statement to travel magazine Travel And Leisure.
Competitors like TUI Airways (TUIFY) and EgyptAir already fly to Luxor from Gatwick and Heathrow, respectively, but do so once a week due to the lower numbers of travelers to the destination. EasyJet’s flight will be a seasonal one for winter sun-seekers and will either be extended or discontinued depending on demand. EasyJet will also launch a new route to Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh in February 2025.
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