It seems like, despite the recession, easyJet, has not given up on its plans to expand into Europe. In fact, the carrier has just recently announced 10 new routes for next year. These routes include three from the UK to Cagliari, Malta, and Helsinki.

The 10 new routes will take the total number of routes that are offered by easyJet up to 449. These routes cover 112 airports in 28 different countries. The news also comes just hot on the heels of bmi’s announcement that it would be axing five of its routes early next year.

EasyJet had just recently warned people of a tough winter. This announcement came just after the carrier unveiled the fact that it had a 65 percent slump in annual pretax profits. The budget carrier had cited the fall in demand due to rising unemployment as the main cause for this profit slump. However, the carrier also noted that poorly timed fuel hedging played a big role in this loss as well.

For quite some time, there has been a lot of speculation that the carrier would have to cut capacity and/or trim expansion as a result of these losses. However, the delivery of six new Airbus 319s has given easyJet the chance to continue on with these routes.

EasyJet is not the only airline that has been hit hard by the ongoing recession. In fact, reports from other airlines, like British Airways and Japan Airlines, show that they are up the same creek as bmi. However, a lot of these airlines are axing routes in order to fight off weak demand.