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Make it easyJet.

BECOME A PILOT AND CHANGE YOUR ALTITUDE

Thinking about becoming a Pilot with easyJet? Well, you’ve landed on one of the best careers in the world. Imagine spending your working hours piloting an aircraft across the skies of Europe. Flying over everything from the Alps to the Aegean. Welcome to the start of an incredible journey.

YOUR PRE-FLIGHT CHECKLIST

Here’s what you need to become a pilot.

Firstly, you’ll need to absolutely love flying. You’ll also have brilliant hand-eye coordination skills and a touch of our Orange Spirit . That’s the attitude that means you work hard, and support the people around you. It’s the fast-thinking, straight-talking, real-world stuff that makes you one of us.  

How are you doing so far? Keeping up? If you tick everything on the list below too, you’ll be ready to apply.

You must be at least 18 at the start of the course (there’s no upper age limit).

You need a minimum of 5 GCSEs or equivalent at Grade C or above, including maths, science and English.

You must be able to get an EASA or CAA Class 1 medical. 

You need the unrestricted right to live and work in the UK, EU or Switzerland and the ability to travel across our network without restriction.

You must be able to speak and write fluent English.

Want to upgrade your application? Here are some ideas to help you stand out.

Experience with team building activities is always good to talk about. Tell us about your previous work experience or any volunteer work you’ve done, including things like DofE awards, youth work or sports clubs. 

Know any Pilots? Call them up for a chat. Ask them how they started out and see what advice they have to offer.

Think of ways to show us how much you want to be a pilot – and why you want to join easyJet specifically. We know we’re amazing, but we’d love to hear why you think so too.

Speak to the CAA about any medical queries, and remember, don’t rule yourself out. Let the professionals decide.

CHOOSING YOUR PILOT’S TRAINING COURSE

Buckle up, there’s a lot to take on board here.

There’s more than one way to get started, with an Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) or Multi-Crew Pilot Licence (MPL). Here’s a brief breakdown:

Integrated ATPL Course

The traditional route. A full-time course with loads of hands-on flying time. Takes up to 18 months.

Type Rating Course

The next step after completing your Integrated ATPL Course. Once you’ve secured a job as a Co-Pilot, you’ll need specific training for the aircraft you’ll eventually fly. So, with us, that would mean you’d be Type Rated for an Airbus A320.

Multi-Crew Pilot Licence 

This is the one we offer. It gives you all the ins and outs of standard operating procedures for us and teaches you about working in a commercial airline environment. A lot of your training is in a simulator, and once you graduate, you’ll have a Type Rating and be a qualified Co-Pilot with easyJet.

TRAINING, OUR WAY

We partner with CAE for our training. The Generation easyJet Pilot Training Programme is a Multi-Crew Pilot Licence (MPL) course and recognised amongst the best in the industry. It’s competency-based and designed specifically for us.

What’s so special?

The course takes 18–22 months to complete and is ‘tagged’. Put simply, this means that it leads directly into a Co-Pilot role on an easyJet Airbus A320.

You’ll train in a professional environment. Our European aviation academy ground schools are embedded in professional CAE Training Centres. Think state-of-the-art tech, dedicated classrooms, pilot lounges and brand-new CAE 7000XR A320 Full Flight Simulators, as well as the CAE 600XR Flight Training Device.  

You’ll learn from the best. You’ll train with professional pilots so you get the chance to learn from their vast experience and skills – as well as build a network of contacts that will stay with you for the future.

Take flight in Phoenix

You’ll take to the sky for the first time in Phoenix, Arizona in the US. The brilliant weather conditions there make it the perfect place to learn how to fly. During the roughly 28 weeks you’re there, you’ll get to explore and make friends too. It’s the memories of a lifetime kind of deal. 

Benefit from CAE’s unique Fleet Standards Assurance. We’ve really thought of everything. This programme is designed to protect your training investment and make sure you leave CAE with everything you need. As well as premier flying skills, you’ll develop leadership, teamwork and communication skills. All getting you ready for your First Officer role.

CAE. TRAINING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL

Over 75 years of industry firsts. 13,000 employees. 200+ locations across 40+ countries. There are a lot of reasons that CAE is the first choice for airlines and aircraft manufacturers around the world when it comes to high tech training and operational support solutions. Did you know that every 5 seconds a flight takes off using CAE operational software? 

CAE’s global aviation academy network graduates more than 1,000 new Pilots every year. It’s not just new Pilots though - CAE provides ongoing training development for the industry, with more than 135,000 Pilots training with them annually.

So, you can see why we chose them as our partner. And why we’re proud of the exclusive long-term agreement we have with them to train new cadets via the Generation easyJet Pilot Training Programme.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Ready to start planning your route to great things? We’ve kept our recruitment process as straightforward as possible.

MYTH BUSTERS

Don’t believe everything you hear. Let’s get to the truth.

Truth: Not necessarily. We’re looking for a real passion for aviation first, though we expect 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) grade C or above, including maths, English and science.

Truth: University may cost less, but the earning potential of a commercial pilot means after 10 years, you’ll have earned £251,000 more than the average university graduate.

Truth: Not true. Provided that you meet the standard of vision, you’re fine.

Truth: Okay, it does take a while. But probably not as long as you think. Pass the training course with us, which lasts 18–24 months, and you’ll be ready to step into the Co-Pilot seat straight away.

Truth: It totally depends on the airline. With us, definitely not. Our flights are short-haul, and we offer flexible shifts, so you can be home most nights.

Truth:  Nope. You don’t need any previous flying experience to apply with us.

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SimpleFlying

Akureyri Adventure: easyJet Adds New Northern Iceland Flights From London Gatwick

Posted: November 3, 2023 | Last updated: November 3, 2023

• North Iceland now has a direct link to the UK with the launch of a new easyJet route to London Gatwick, benefiting the local community and supporting the winter tourism economy.
• Akureyri, the second-largest urban area in Iceland, serves as a gateway to North Iceland and offers opportunities for tourists to explore the Northern Lights and participate in various exciting activities.
• The launch of the new route has been the result of collaboration between local tourism companies, municipalities, and government, and is expected to increase connectivity and boost the year-round tourism industry in the region.

North Iceland once again has a direct link to the United Kingdom with the launch of a new easyJet route to London Gatwick. The first flight to the regional center of Akureyri landed on October 31st. Passengers on the first flight were greeted with a specialty doughnut called a kleina and representatives from local government and tourism companies.

New in the North

Akureyri serves as a gateway to North Iceland and is the country's second-largest urban area. The flights will operate twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Saturdays, until next March with an Airbus A319. EasyJet is the first foreign airline to operate scheduled international flights to Akureyri and follows Niceair in connecting the two cities. Arnheiður Jóhannsdóttir, CEO of Visit North Iceland, highlighted how the new flights will support the economy through the winter as most tourists visit in summer."

“These flights and arrivals from the UK will encourage investment in winter tourism, which will, in turn, help to create more year-round jobs. The passengers of easyJet will travel with agents from the UK and North Iceland, buying ready-made packages, but they will also be on self-drive journeys.

"This creates excellent opportunities for tourism in North Iceland. We have worked on the arrival of easyJet for an extended period, in good cooperation with the local tourism companies, municipalities and government. Today, we celebrate this milestone, showcasing how vital collaboration can be when everyone aims for the same objective.“

The inaugural flight departed London Gatwick half an hour behind schedule and arrived at the Icelandic airport after a flight time of 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Increasing connections for the community.

Local officials were quick to note how the arrival of easyJet's flight to London will benefit the community. North Icelanders now have another option to travel internationally from Akureyri instead of traveling to Keflavík in the south of Iceland before flying abroad.

Simple Flying reviewed the short connection in February. Traveling internationally often involves a change of airport, and most international flights to and from Iceland depart from Keflavik Airport (KEF), while domestic flights are facilitated at the smaller Reykjavík Airport (RKV)

Traveling from Akureyri to Reykjavík by road generally takes around five and a half hours.

Why Akureyri?

The northern city is Iceland's second-largest urban center and a prime location to spot the Northern Lights. The Northern Lights season runs from September through to early April. The phenomenon is more likely to appear in Northern Iceland than anywhere else on the island. Ali Gayward, easyJet's UK Country manager, highlighted some of the exciting activities available for visitors:

“We are delighted to be launching a brand new route to Akureyri in Iceland and becoming the only UK airline to operate flights to the destination providing even more choice and variety for our customers this winter to this unique route from the UK.

"Our new route provides customers the opportunity to explore something different; with experiences ranging from relaxing geothermal spa visits to thrilling super jeep tours, whale watching, or northern lights hunting so we are sure the route will be a success and we can’t wait to welcome more customers on board.”

The area also hosts a large number of festivals and events throughout the winter.

Reaching the region

Isavia, the airport's owners, and the local tourist office Visit North Iceland have been in in discussion with the airline since 2014 regarding the launch of flights. EasyJet representatives visited Akureyri and the nearby Egilsstaðir Airport in 2015 and 2017 to explore the regions and tourism opportunities.

Have you heard the Simple Flying podcast recently?

Discussions were placed on hold during the pandemic but were resumed earlier this year. The route was officially announced this spring, with the airline confirming the destination would be added to the Winter schedule. Sigrún Björk Jakobsdóttir, CEO of Isavia domestic airports, expressed her excitement for this next chapter unfold:

"This is an excellent addition to the ever-growing traffic in Akureyri International Airport and shows how important the decision was to build the new terminal, in addition to other construction and renovation of the airport. The construction of the new terminal will be completed this year, making the airport experience much better for easyJet passengers."

The South of Iceland is also steadily growing as a Winter Destination. Home carrier Iceland Air confirmed that its seasonal daily flight to Raleigh-Durham , North Carolina, would be extended to a year-round service.

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Why the easyJet share price plunged 15% in October

The easyJet share price reversed gains in October despite registering a record fourth-quarter profit. Dr James Fox takes a closer look.

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• Why the easyJet share price plunged 15% in October - 2 November, 2023

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Over 12 months, the easyJet ( LSE:EZJ ) share price is up just 5%. And this is because the stock tanked in October, falling a sizeable 15%. So why is that? Let’s take a look.

A challenging month

In October, the easyJet share price dipped due to a confluence of factors.

One significant contributor to this downward trend was the company’s profit guidance falling short of market expectations. easyJet gave its full-year profit outlook in the Q4 report, indicating a range between £440m-£460m. However, this was notably below the consensus forecast of £469m.

This discrepancy can be attributed to various factors including the impact of strike action during the summer months and heightened competition.

However, we can also speculate that rising global fuel prices following the Hamas attack on 7 October had an impact on the share price — not Q4 performance.

The outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas caused oil prices to spike given fears that the war could escalate.

The Middle East region holds over 60% of the world’s proven crude oil reserves. Additionally, it’s home to the world’s largest oil exporters including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran, while possessing several key maritime choke points.

In turn, I imagine the conflict would have damaged demand for winter sun destinations in the region. I’d actually been planning to head back to Aqaba on easyJet in December… but maybe we’ll wait — a missile recently hit nearby Taba.

easyJet also serves destinations including Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh.

Buy the dip?

‘Buying the dip’ is a strategy where investors purchase assets, typically stocks, during a market decline with the expectation their value will eventually rebound, allowing for potential gains.

So is this 15% decline an opportunity to buy? Well, there’s certainly a strong investment hypothesis.

For one, the budget-conscious business boasts a significantly healthier financial position than many of its peers, offering a considerably greater cushion for potential risks.

On the topic of fuel, easyJet has a robust hedging strategy in place, with nearly 75% of its fuel needs for the first half of FY24 secured at $866, and a solid 46% hedged for the second half at $822.

This allows it to operate on the front foot, according to demand forecasts. In fact, in the Q4 report, easyJet said it has placed a firm order with Boeing for 157 aircraft for delivery between FY29 and FY34.

We can also see that easyJet looks cheap compared to its budget peer Ryanair , but broadly trades in line versus European giant IAG . The below chart shows a price-to-sales comparison.

Naturally, no investment is without risk. Given easyJet’s emphasis on the budget segment of the market, there’s a possibility its customer base could be the initial group to feel the pinch if we experience a substantial recession.

Nonetheless, easyJet looks like a strong investment opportunity. The growth of its package holiday segment looks set to expand margins, while its solid financials means dividends should remain sustainable.

If I had spare capital I would investment today. However, my preference remains IAG.

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Berlin's famed nightclubs, losing customers, face an uncertain future

Rob Schmitz

People dancing on the dance floor at Club Re:mise in Berlin on Oct. 7, 2023. Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images hide caption

People dancing on the dance floor at Club Re:mise in Berlin on Oct. 7, 2023.

BERLIN — For those who haven't experienced it, a night at a club in Berlin can be reduced to a math equation whose first variable is the best club you've been to.

"Berlin nightlife is, let's say, what you've experienced, multiply that by 10," says Zak Khutoretsky, otherwise known by his DJ pseudonym, DVS1.

"Berlin nightlife is very free," he says. "It's trying to push artistic boundaries. It's trying to push personal boundaries. It's trying to let people experience music, art and culture with some rules. But those rules are created to have no rules."

Khutoretsky, who holds a residency at the Berlin club Berghain , says he's heard complaints lately from club owners and promoters in Berlin about declining numbers of club-goers. Even Berghain, typically an anomaly because it draws crowds from around the world, has raised its cover charge to deal with rising costs. He thinks fewer Europeans are making quick clubbing trips to the city due to the financial hit of the pandemic.

"So where a casual weekend to Berlin before the pandemic was a simple decision and paying the cover and eating food and taking taxis and then getting home before you have to go to work on Monday was a really easy thing to do within Europe," reasons Khutoretsky, "I think it became harder after the pandemic."

Berlin Clubcommission chair Lutz Leichsenring says before the pandemic, a third of tourists came for the city's nightclubs, and they typically spent $1.6 billion per year while they were here.

Lutz Leichsenring, chair of the Berlin Clubcommission, says Berlin clubs are losing revenue due to inflation, minimum wage increases and the cost of energy. He's in talks with the city of Berlin to seek help. Rob Schmitz/ NPR hide caption

Lutz Leichsenring, chair of the Berlin Clubcommission, says Berlin clubs are losing revenue due to inflation, minimum wage increases and the cost of energy. He's in talks with the city of Berlin to seek help.

In 2021-2022, 5.5 million tourists came to Berlin, 30% fewer than pre-pandemic numbers .

But declining tourism isn't the only problem.

"You have inflation, you have an energy crisis and you have also the rise of the minimum wage," says Leichsenring, whose group represents Berlin's clubs, is funded by them and acts as a lobbying body for them in front of the city and federal government. "There's also less demand because fewer people are in the city. People don't spend so much money because of the inflation. It's a very critical time."

A critical time, too, because of how Berlin is developing as a European metropolis.

"I think that in Berlin, much more than in other big cities, there's a deep connection between the nightlife and urban development," says Tobias Rapp, a culture writer for Der Spiegel and author of the book, Lost and Sound: Berlin, Techno and the Easyjet Set.

Rapp says Berlin's club scene is an outgrowth of how the city developed after the fall of the Berlin Wall and Germany's reunification more than three decades ago.

"In the years after reunification, one-third of East Berlin was empty," recalls Rapp. "There was nobody living there. It was a ghost town. So young people like me and others, we took spaces. You have an empty warehouse or an old factory that is empty, and you go in and you squatted, and you say, 'This is ours.' And you have this huge space and you say, 'What can I do with this?' You make a party."

Berlin's clubs evolved from life on the margins to trendsetting culture destinations

In the early 1990s in East Berlin, nightclubs popped up in abandoned breweries, power stations and bomb shelters. None of this was safe, and Rapp considers it a minor miracle there wasn't a horrible fire or other accident inside one of these makeshift clubs.

Eventually, investors and the city began to take note — they worked together to build legal, licensed clubs and other businesses began to arrive, too.

"The side effect was it was good for the value of the properties," says Rapp, "because in lots of areas that were rundown, that were empty, that were not nice, that didn't have a good reputation, you suddenly had galleries, bars, nightclubs that gave these areas certain value."

And with that came young renters who turned into middle-aged homeowners with children. And as housing prices have risen, Berlin's transformed, gentrified neighborhoods have become less comfortable with the city's clubs and their subculture.

Just down the block from Berlin's infamous fetish and sex club, the KitKatClub , Undine, a resident who's critical of the club and would only give her first name for fear of retribution from club-goers and the club owner, points out the detritus of the previous evening.

"You should take a photo of all this trash the clubbers have left behind," she says with a sour face. "Nobody picks it up. Nobody cares. I've complained several times to the police about the noise and rowdiness in the early hours of the morning from this club."

Complaints like this are on the rise in Berlin as the city's housing prices go up and urban spaces become tighter. But for Zak Khutoretsky, the DJ, it's clear who should get a free pass.

"Who was there first?" he asks. "If the club was there first, why can't the club be protected in the same way that if an apartment building was there first and a club moved in? Well, in this case, the clubs were there first. The culture was there first. And I think it's important to protect those things."

The Berlin Clubcommission is, in fact, seeking the type of protection that the city offers its museums, opera houses and other cultural institutions, so that it can survive its current and any future downturns. Such protection includes city subsidies and tax breaks.

Near midnight on a Thursday at Berlin's Berghain club, there is no line. Maybe it's too early; maybe times are tough. Despite this, when Andrea Sibaja and her friends approach the bouncer, he shakes his head, directing them to the way out.

Andrea Sibaja, Jordan Inijuez and Darian Chacon, friends from Costa Rica, outside Berghain, Berlin's most famous club. Sibaja and Inijuez, visiting from Boston, had always wanted to experience Berghain, but on this day, bouncers at the door rejected them, sending them on their way. Rob Schmitz/NPR hide caption

Andrea Sibaja, Jordan Inijuez and Darian Chacon, friends from Costa Rica, outside Berghain, Berlin's most famous club. Sibaja and Inijuez, visiting from Boston, had always wanted to experience Berghain, but on this day, bouncers at the door rejected them, sending them on their way.

They're Costa Ricans who live in Boston, and they flew to Berlin because Berghain was on their bucket list.

"I'm one of those people that usually wears black and I feel like, oh, maybe I'm part of that. I want to hang out with people that have the same vibe as me and.... Rejected!" Sibaja says, shaking her head.

Sibaja is still in a state of shock and lingers outside in the cold, watching others casually walk inside, past the bouncers who just turned her and her friends away. When she hears that Berlin clubs are complaining about fewer club-goers, she drops her jaw.

"But at the same time, they reject you," she says. "So you're like, well, what's the point? I'm coming all the way here for this, and then they're turning their back on you. I'm just going to spend my money somewhere else now."

Esme Nicholson contributed to this report from Berlin.

• berlin clubs
• berlin nightlife

New routes, old coaches: Europe's night trains struggle to pick up speed

[1/2] People say goodbye before boarding the first European Sleeper train to Berlin, at the Midi Station in Brussels, Belgium May 26, 2023. REUTERS/Bart Biesemans/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

BERLIN, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Sarah and Sonia pile out of a rain-smattered train at Berlin Central Station, surprised they feel so rested after sleeping on Europe's newest night train service, but also over an hour late.

"When you see the beds, they don't look like the most comfortable ones," said Sarah, a midwifery student from Belgium. But, pulling on their rucksacks after their journey from Brussels, the friends feel ready for a weekend of sightseeing.

They travelled with European Sleeper, a Dutch-Belgian startup whose launch in May is part of a renaissance of night train travel.

The company says there's demand for such services, which offer a lower emissions alternative to airplanes for climate conscious travellers while bringing back some of the romance of an older and slower form of travel for enthusiasts.

But the revival faces many obstacles, from securing funding and profits amid cut-throat competition from low-cost airlines to running reliable services on Europe's overcrowded and ageing rail network.

Sarah and Sonia's train is a case in point. European Sleeper said it endured a time-consuming back and forth with national train operators to agree on timetables for its Brussels-to-Berlin service.

"It's very bureaucratic and complicated," Chris Engelsman, European Sleeper's co-founder, told Reuters.

The company also spent a year-and-a-half scouring Europe for second-hand sleeper train coaches to rent. The refurbished couchettes in off-white and faded red had cases of faulty power sockets and broken toilets as they transported more than 20,000 people over European Sleeper's first summer season.

In extreme cases, last-minute technical faults forced the company to downgrade some passengers to overnight seats or cancel their tickets altogether.

"The main investment that we are at the moment looking for is in the rolling stock because that is such a critical part of the whole business," Engelsman said.

The company is hoping to raise 40-60 million euros ($43-63 million) to buy its own coaches, ten times the amount it has raised so far from investors and crowdfunding.

Other operators are backed by government money, with Austria's OBB leading the charge.

It is expanding its Nightjet network, which transported 1.5 million passengers last year, with sleeper carriages often booked out weeks in advance. Two new routes connecting Berlin with Paris and Brussels start from December.

OBB spent 720 million euros on 33 next-generation night trains, developed with Siemens Mobility.

"There is higher demand," said Alberto Mazzola, executive director of the CER lobby representing European rail companies.

"But the main challenge is the business plan."

Years of decline in Europe's night train network coincided with the rise of low-cost airlines.

Today, a night train from Berlin to Zurich costs around 160 euros and takes over 12 hours. An easyJet (EZJ.L) flight between the two cities is much quicker, even including airport security, and costs less than half that.

Calculations by the Norwegian government underscore the profitability challenge. Last year it dampened hopes for a new route from Oslo to Copenhagen, saying it would have to spend up to $4 million a year in subsidies to offer tickets at a rate that travellers are prepared to pay.

"It's not easy and it's not our aim to become rich," European Sleeper's Engelsman said.

His company is nevertheless planning to expand, starting with the long-delayed extension of its line to Prague from March 2024. It is also eyeing an Amsterdam-to-Barcelona route.

Supporters of night trains are pushing for more state help to compete against budget airlines, such as a value-added tax exemption on cross-border routes and lower track access charges.

France said in September it would seek support for a minimum price on flights in the European Union to try to reduce airlines' contribution to climate change, which could also help.

Cost pressures aside, night train operators must navigate Europe's ageing network of mismatched gauge systems and different languages.

At night, trains compete with freight traffic and construction works, and during the busy morning hours they vie for arrival slots at stations with commuter services.

Sarah and Sonia's train, European Sleeper's ES453 service, pulled in at 7.57 a.m., one hour and nine minutes late.

Sonia didn't mind, though: "We could sleep a bit longer."

($1 = 0.9381 euros)

Additiona reporting by Victoria Klesty Editing by Matthias Williams and Mark Potter

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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