EasyJet

From Free net encyclopedia

easyJet is a low cost airline officially known as easyJet Airline Company Limited, based at London Luton Airport. The airline operates frequent scheduled services for leisure and business passengers and serves more than 200 routes between more than 60 European airports. It was founded by easyGroup entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou, but it is now listed on the London Stock Exchange and easyGroup owns only a minority stake. It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

1 Strategy
2 History
3 Hubs
4 Destinations
5 Fleet
6 Booking
7 Passenger numbers
8 Controversy
9 Other facts of interest
10 External links

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Strategy

easyJet and its Republic of Ireland-based rival Ryanair are by far the largest low cost airlines in Europe, and the rivalry between them is intense and sometimes vituperative (especially on Ryanair's side from its high profile chief executive Michael O'Leary). The two companies have slightly different strategies. easyJet flies mainly to leading airports while Ryanair uses far more secondary airports to reduce costs. easyJet places more focus on attracting business travellers as well as leisure travellers, although all its aircraft have single-class cabins.

Ryanair makes much of the fact that easyJet's average fares are higher and its average punctuality is consistently lower. This is mainly due to the different range of airports used and Ryanair routinely scheduling flights to take thirty minutes longer than required. As of September 2005, Ryanair flies more passengers, but easyJet has a higher turnover, leading both of them to claim to be "Europe's number one low cost airline". Ryanair has come under criticism for using aggressive advertising techniques to inform consumers of their low fares. The Irish airline claims to be 50% cheaper than easyJet, despite their fees and taxes being up to three times more expensive than those of easyJet's.

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History

The airline was established on 18 October 1995 and started operations on 10 November 1995. It was launched by Stelios Haji-Ioannou with two leased Boeing 737-200 aircraft wet leased from GB Airways and operating two routes: London Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Its early marketing strategy was based on 'making flying as affordable as a pair of jeans' and urged travellers to 'cut out the travel agent'. This caused much outrage among travel agents. In March 1998 it purchased a 40% stake in TEA Switzerland, renamed EasyJet Switzerland. easyJet was floated on the London stock exchange in October 2000. Operations were boosted in 2002 with the acquisition of rival airline, London Stansted based Go Fly. In December 2003 easyJet announced it would open a new hub in Berlin, at Schönefeld Airport, from which it started flying on 11 routes from May 2004. easyJet's main shareholder is Stelios Haji-Ioannou. It also holds a 49% stake in easyJet Switzerland.

In October 2004 the FL GROUP, the owner of airlines Icelandair and Sterling, purchased an 8.4% stake in easyJet. Over the course of 2005, FL increased its share in the company periodically to 16.9%, fuelling speculation that it would mount a takeover bid for the UK carrier. However, in April 2006 the threat of takeover receded as FL sold its stake for €325m, securing a profit of €140m on its investment.

easyJet is claimed to be a more business-oriented airline than Ryanair, since it flies to major airports (as opposed to secondary airports) and has recently removed limits on hand luggage weight (within reason).

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Hubs

Image:Easyjet.b737-700.g-ezjr.bristol.arp.jpg

Image:Easyjet.a319.arp.750pix.jpg

Image:EJ20030502020.jpg

easyJet's main base is London Luton (LTN), although its largest is now at London Gatwick (LGW). It also has hubs at:-

Basel (BSL),
Belfast International Airport (BFS),
Berlin Schönefeld (SXF),
Bristol International Airport (BRS),
Dortmund Airport (DTM),
Edinburgh (EDI),
Geneva Cointrin International Airport (GVA),
Glasgow International Airport (GLA),
Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL),
London Stansted (STN),
Malpensa International Airport (MXP),
Newcastle Airport (NCL),
Nottingham East Midlands Airport (EMA),
Orly Airport, Paris (ORY)

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Destinations

A detailed list of cities served can be found in easyJet destinations.

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Fleet

The easyJet fleet consists of the following aircraft (at April 2006):

70 Airbus A319-100* (further 70 on order)
12 Boeing 737-300
32 Boeing 737-700

^{* Includes 10 aircraft placed with easyJet Switzerland.}

In March 2006, easyJet fleet average age is 3.1 years old.

easyJet initially operated exclusively Boeing 737 aircraft. In September 2003 it broke with its previous philosophy of operating just one aircraft type by ordering 120 Airbus A319s (and 120 options) with CFM56-5B engines [1]. These were first introduced to easyJet's Geneva base, UK bases followed in 2004. Easyjet converted 20 of its options into orders in December 2005[2]. Image:First easyjet-Flight at Berlin.jpg

When the last of the Airbus A319s has been delivered in 2007 easyJet still expects to be operating all its 32 Boeing 737-700s and to have completely retired its 737-300s. [3]

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Booking

Initially booking was by telephone only, all the planes were painted with the booking telephone number. There is no incentive for travel agents to sell easyJet bookings because there is no commission, a standard practice for the low cost carriers. When asked about the possibility of Internet sales, Stelios had replied that the Internet was "just for geeks". Later he changed his mind, and easyJet became the first UK airline to offer online booking in April 1998. Internet bookings were priced cheaper than booking over the phone, to reflect the reduced call centre costs and the planes were repainted with the web address. Within a year 15% of bookings were made using the web site, by April 2004 the figure had jumped to 98%. Now, flights can only be booked over the Internet except during the 2 weeks immediately before the flight when telephone booking is also available. Image:Easyjet.b737-700.g-ezka.bristol.arp.jpg

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Passenger numbers

easyJet has published the following passenger numbers:

Year ended 30 September 2005: 29,557,640
Year ended 30 September 2004: 24,343,649
Year ended 30 September 2003: 20,332,973
Year ended 30 September 2002: 11,400,000
Year ended 30 September 2001: 7,100,000
Year ended 30 September 2000: 5,600,000
Year ended 30 September 1999: 3,100,000

These are "earned seat" numbers. Earned seats is a method of counting passenger numbers which includes all seats sold whether the passenger turns up or not, and also seats used for promotional purposes and staff business travel.

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Controversy

easyJet's success arguably paved the way for the boom in cheap air travel in the late 1990's and early 2000's (though they were not the first budget carrier). This has led easyJet to be accused, amongst other budget carriers, of contributing to global warming through the high carbon emissions of aircraft. Calls for an aviation tax have been made - the impact of this would likely be to cripple easyJet's business model. It should be noted that in most Western countries, the aviation industry currently enjoys extensive financial incentives in the form of tax breaks and lack of overall aviation tax.

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Other facts of interest

On 14 December 2004, easyJet and Hotelopia, a subsidiary of First Choice Holidays, launched a co-branded easyJetHotels accommodation booking service.
Due to higher density passenger seating and the enforced extra safety requirement, easyJet's Airbus A319 aircraft have two pairs of overwing exits instead of standard one-pair exits found on all other Airbus A319.
The UK television station ITV has run a series called "Airline" featuring easyJet and its staff at work at Luton airport (also aired in the US as A&E Network show Airline UK)