easyJet, the low fares carrier, said today that it was starting a ninety-day discussion with the member of its staff on whether to close its base in Dortmund, Germany.
The London Luton airport-based budget carrier also said that it would axe about half of all of its services from the airport in its winter season. This in the wake of rising fuel costs whereby many airlines are facing the tough times of downing flights that are not viable due to the costs in operating those flights.
In a statement, the carrier said that it was thinking about the closure due to the operating schedule at the airport.
At present, there are a total of 116 employees based at the carrier's base in Dortmund.
An airline spokesman said, "Dortmund Airport has the most stringent operating hours of any easyJet crew base, which significantly hampers aircraft utilisation, eroding easyJet's competitiveness in Dortmund.
As a result, easyJet has just three aircraft based at Dortmund which, in the context of today's oil price, is insufficient to provide the economies of scale and crewing efficiency necessary to support a low-cost operation".
Its rival budget carrier Ryanair-Europe's largest low-cost airline-which also operates it from the area, revealed in a statement that it has offered 100,000 seats for a price of just €10 (including all the taxes and fees) on its twenty-two routes from Dusseldorf-Weeze (80 km outside of Dusseldorf) to celebrate the decision of easyJet.
