Low-cost airline easyJet has reached the milestone of flying 40m passengers to and from Bristol Airport since it launched services there just over 14 years ago.
The airline has grown significantly at the airport introducing its first flight in 2001 and Bristol is now its largest base outside London with direct connections to 58 destinations, including recently launched services to Basel, Bilbao, Catania, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Lanzarote, Porto, Vienna and Zante.
It will launch flights to Dubrovnik, Nantes and Venice this year as it bases a 13th aircraft at Bristol. 
The airline also last month celebrated flying a million passengers between Bristol and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport since launching the route in 2006.
EasyJet UK commercial manager Ali Gayward said: “We’re really proud that 40m passengers have chosen to travel with easyJet from Bristol Airport – it’s a testament to the hard work our staff put in every day to provide easy and affordable flights with friendly customer service.
“We’re looking forward to all that 2016 has to hold for easyJet in Bristol, especially with the launch of our new routes.”
Bristol Airport chief executive officer Robert Sinclair added: “This is an incredible milestone and is a demonstration of the successful partnership between easyJet and Bristol Airport.
“Since easyJet arrived at Bristol in 2001 both companies have been on an amazing journey and now provide customers in the South West and Wales easy and affordable access to air travel with an increasing number of destinations.
“In 2001 the Airport was handling fewer than 3m passengers a year. In 2015 this totalled over 6.76m passengers. Investment in our facilities will total more than £120m since 2010 when construction of the west terminal extension opens later this year supports continued growth.”
