easyJet has announced the sale of GB Airways routes on its website.

easyJet has announced that its website has flights to 16 new destinations – from the 32 routes it has acquired from GB Airways – for sale as part of a code-share agreement following the termination of all GB Airways flight sales by British Airways from March 2008.

easyJet, a UK low budget airline, announced its intention to buy Gatwick-based GB Airways – which serves under a franchise agreement with BA – in October 2007 and this sale, worth £103.5 million, will be completed in January 2008. This deal will make available to easyJet an extra 34 routes, excluding GB Airways’ five slots at Heathrow airport.

London’s Gatwick airport acts as easyJet’s biggest base and this acquisition of GB Airways means that easyJet will operate 24% of Gatwick’s slots, flying a total of eight million passengers across 62 routes from the airport.

Speaking in October when the acquisition deal was announced, Andy Harrison, easyJet’s Chief Executive, said: “The deal will bring major benefits to both easyJet and GB Airways customers, delivering a wider choice of destinations at easyJet’s great prices, and creating clear value for our shareholders.

“We expect the acquisition to be earnings positive in our current financial year and in the longer-term we will transition the GB Airways operation to easyJet’s cost base and operating margin levels. We expect to achieve both cost and revenue synergies as we expand our business at Gatwick.”

The routes will all be operated by BA until 29 March 2008, after which they will be operated under the easyJet brand – passengers who have booked to fly with GB Airways in the summer of 2008 will be given the choice of flying at the same time with easyJet or receiving a refund.

GB Airways is also cancelling its Heathrow Airport operations by the end of March 2008, and passengers will be redirected to fly from Gatwick Airport instead.

The extra routes, to destinations such as Corfu, Turkey and the Canary Islands, will bring easyJet’s total number of routes from Gatwick to 66, and add a further six from Manchester Airport.