In Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe, it is known as a ‘budget’ or ‘low-cost’ airline, but travellers booking tickets on easyJet out of Basel’s EuroAirport for April and May are paying exorbitantly high prices.
If you are accustomed to paying rock-bottom prices for easyJet flights, be ready to be shocked: if you plan to fly out of the EuroAirport between April 15th and May 20th, your ticket will cost you – depending on your destination – up to …1,682 percent more than usual.
In other words, easyJet charges the same (or even higher) prices for this five-week period as regular airlines.
For instance, flights from Basel to London typically cost from 24.42 francs one way.
However, between April 15th and May 20th, they cost up to 223.92 francs. That’s an increase of 816.9 percent.
If you want to fly to Barcelona during this period, be ready to pay up to 342.42 francs – up from 27.92 you’d normally pay, so 1,126.4 percent more.
And if you are heading to Palma de Mallorca, you can buy a ticket for 28.92 francs in March.
In mid-April to mid-May, however, the same route costs up to 515.42 francs – that is, 1682.9 percent more.
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Why is that?
During the period in question, the EuroAirport will be renovating its main runway.
As a result of these works, 25 companies which regularly fly to and from this airport will suspend their operations, and only easyJet will fly to selected destinations from the airport’s secondary, shorter runway.
The airline is increasing its fares during the five-week period not only because it won’t have any competition and will hold a virtual monopoly at the airport during this time.
Instead, it is down to logistics and more demanding operations.
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That’s because the secondary runway that easyJet will be using lacks an instrument landing system (ILS), which means that pilots must land visually – depending only on their eyesight.
For that, a minimum visibility of at least five kilometres is required, and difficult weather conditions such as thunderstorms, heavy rain, or strong winds can restrict operations.
To meet these challenges, easyJet “is investing in specialised pilot training specifically tailored to operations on the secondary runway,” the company said. – and that is reflected in higher ticket prices.
READ MORE: Basel airport to slash flights in spring 2026 with only one airline to operate
There is, however, one way to circumvent these price increases: easyJet departures out of Zurich or Geneva still offer low fares.
