Easyjet Takes Off in Germany

Europe's second-largest no-frills airline, Easyjet, plans to enter the German market on Wednesday: The company said it expects high demand for its low-cost flights, which will depart from Berlin's Schönefeld airport. "We expect to fly at more than 80 percent booking capacity," CEO Ray Webster told the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper. The company plans to expand to other airports, and expects Easyjet's presence to weaken current low-cost flyers. "We will be in Cologne when the competition there weakens," Webster said. The airline's main competitors, Germanwings (which dominates the Cologne market segment) and Hapag Lloyd Express, told news organizations they would wait and see how the Britain-based airline performs before becoming concerned. Despite enormous market growth, one of the low-cost airlines currently proliferating in Europe is likely to go out of business this year.