EasyJet Airline Company Limited (styled as
easyJet) is a
British airline headquartered at
London Luton AirportLondon Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway...
. It carries more passengers than any other United Kingdom-based airline, operating domestic and international scheduled services on 500 routes between 118 European, North African, and West Asian airports. The
parent companyA parent company is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors; the second company being deemed as a subsidiary of the parent company...
,
EasyJet plc, is listed on the
London Stock ExchangeThe London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and is a constituent of the
FTSE 250 IndexThe FTSE 250 Index is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions to and demotions from the index take place quarterly in March, June, September and December...
. , it employed 8,000 people, based throughout Europe but mainly in the UK.
EasyJet has seen rapid expansion since its establishment in 1995, having grown through a combination of
acquisitionsMergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
and base openings fuelled by consumer demand for low-cost air travel. The airline, along with subsidiary airline
EasyJet SwitzerlandEasyJet Switzerland SA is a low-cost airline based in Meyrin, Switzerland, operating scheduled flights as an EasyJet franchise out of Geneva Cointrin International Airport and Basel-Mulhouse International Airport....
, now operates over 200 aircraft, mostly
Airbus A319The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
. It has 19 bases across Europe, the most important one being Gatwick. In 2010, EasyJet carried 42.4 million passengers and is the second-largest
low-cost carrierA low-cost carrier or low-cost airline is an airline that generally has lower fares and fewer comforts...
in Europe, behind
RyanairRyanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
.
EasyJet was featured in the television series
Airline broadcast on
ITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
which followed the airline's operations at London Luton and later at other bases. EasyJet's founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, was featured heavily in the series.
History
The airline was established in 1995 as part of the
EasyGroupEasyGroup , founded in 1998, is a conglomerate & the holding company controlling the "easy" ventures; it is privately owned by Stelios Haji-Ioannou....
conglomerate. It was launched by Greek-Cypriot businessman
Stelios Haji-IoannouSir Stelios Haji-Ioannou , born 14 February 1967) is a British entrepreneur of Greek Cypriot origin, currently a resident of Monaco. He is the scion of a wealthy, shipowning family, but is best known for setting up easyJet, a highly successful and profitable low-cost airline, with start-up funds...
with two wet leased
Boeing 737–200The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
aircraft, initially operating two routes:
London LutonLondon Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway...
to
GlasgowGlasgow International Airport is an international airport in Scotland, located west of Glasgow city centre, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew in Renfrewshire...
and
EdinburghEdinburgh Airport is located at Turnhouse in the City of Edinburgh, Scotland, and was the busiest airport in Scotland in 2010, handling just under 8.6 million passengers in that year. It was also the sixth busiest airport in the UK by passengers and the fifth busiest by aircraft movements...
. In April 1996, the first wholly owned aircraft was delivered to Easyjet, enabling its first international route, to
AmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. Until October 1997, the aircraft were operated by
GB AirwaysGB Airways was a UK airline; prior to its dissolution it was headquartered in "The Beehive," a former terminal building, at City Place Gatwick, London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex, England. It operated scheduled services as a British Airways franchise to 30 destinations in Europe and...
, and subsequently by Air Foyle as EasyJet had not yet received its
Air Operator's CertificateAn air operator's certificate is the approval granted from a national aviation authority to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and system in place to ensure the safety of its employees and the general public...
.
Business and financials
EasyJet was floated on the
London Stock ExchangeThe London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
on 5 November 2000. In October 2004 the
FL GroupStodir is an international investment company, headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland with offices in London.The company was founded on July 20, 1973, under the name Flugleiðir. It was formed as a holding company for Loftleiðir and Flugfélag Íslands....
, owner of the airlines
IcelandairIcelandair ehf is the flag carrier airline of Iceland, based on the grounds of Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík. It is part of the Icelandair Group and currently operates scheduled services to 31 cities in 13 countries on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean out of its hub at Keflavík International Airport...
and
SterlingSterling Airlines A/S was a low-cost airline with its head office at Copenhagen Airport South in Dragør, Dragør Municipality, Denmark. It was created in September 2005 through the merger of two Danish airlines — Sterling European Airlines and Maersk Air — which had been bought by the Icelandic...
, 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 €325 million, securing a profit of €140m on its investment. In November 2005, Ray Webster stood down after 10 years as EasyJet's chief executive officer (CEO) and was replaced by former
RAC plcRAC Limited is a breakdown company in the United Kingdom supplying products and services for motorists. Initially formed as the "Associate Section" of the Royal Automobile Club, it was incorporated as R.A.C. Motoring Services Ltd. in 1978. It was then sold by the members of the Royal Automobile...
CEO, Andrew Harrison.
EasyJet financial performance
| Year ended |
Passengers flown[Passengers = Earned seats flown, including "no-shows" (empty paid seats), promotional seats and those provided to staff for business travel, for both Easyjet UK and Easyjet Switzerland]EasyJet Switzerland SA is a low-cost airline based in Meyrin, Switzerland, operating scheduled flights as an EasyJet franchise out of Geneva Cointrin International Airport and Basel-Mulhouse International Airport....
|
Load factor |
Turnover (£m) |
Profit/loss before tax (£m) |
Net profit/loss (£m) |
Basic EPS Earnings per share is the amount of earnings per each outstanding share of a company's stock.In the United States, the Financial Accounting Standards Board requires companies' income statements to report EPS for each of the major categories of the income statement: continuing operations,...
(p) |
| 30 September 2011 |
54,509,271 |
87.3% |
3,452 |
248 |
225 |
52.5 |
| 30 September 2010 |
48,754,366 |
87.0% |
2,973.1 |
154.0 |
121.3 |
28.4 |
| 30 September 2009 |
45,164,279 |
85.5% |
2,666.8 |
54.7 |
71.2 |
16.9 |
| 30 September 2008 |
43,659,478 |
84.1% |
2,362.8 |
110.2 |
83.2 |
19.8 |
| 30 September 2007 |
37,230,079 |
83.7% |
1,797.2 |
201.9 |
152.3 |
36.62 |
| 30 September 2006 |
32,953,287 |
84.8% |
1,619.7 |
129.2 |
94.1 |
23.18 |
| 30 September 2005 |
29,557,640 |
85.2% |
1,314.4 |
67.9 |
42.6 |
10.68 |
| 30 September 2004 |
24,343,649 |
84.5% |
1,091.0 |
62.2 |
41.1 |
10.34 |
| 30 September 2003 |
20,332,973 |
84.1% |
931.8 |
51.5 |
32.4 |
8.24 |
| 30 September 2002 |
11,350,350 |
84.8% |
551.8 |
71.6 |
49.0 |
14.61 |
| 30 September 2001 |
7,115,147 |
83.03% |
356.9 |
40.1 |
37.9 |
15.2 |
| 30 September 2000 |
5,600,000 |
|
263.7 |
22.1 |
22.1 |
11.9 |
Marketing
EasyJet's early marketing strategy was based on "making flying as affordable as a pair of jeans" and urged travellers to "cut out the travel agent". Its early advertising consisted of little more than the airline's telephone booking number painted in bright orange on the side of its aircraft.
The
Airline TV series created by LWT and filmed between 1999 and 2007 made EasyJet a household name in the United Kingdom. The series, while not always portraying EasyJet in a positive light, did much to promote the airline during this time. EasyJet has used a number of
sloganA slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm . Slogans vary from the written and the...
s since its establishment. Its current slogan is "The Web's Favourite Airline", a reflection on the airline's cheeky and cheerful image.
Expansion and acquisitions
EasyJet has expanded rapidly since its establishment in 1995, driven by base openings both in the United Kingdom and continental Europe, and by a number of acquisitions.
In March 1998, EasyJet purchased a 40% stake in Swiss charter airline TEA Basle for a consideration of three million
Swiss francsThe franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen , it is in wide daily use there...
. The airline was renamed
EasyJet SwitzerlandEasyJet Switzerland SA is a low-cost airline based in Meyrin, Switzerland, operating scheduled flights as an EasyJet franchise out of Geneva Cointrin International Airport and Basel-Mulhouse International Airport....
and commenced
franchiseFranchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
services on 1 April 1999, having relocated its headquarters to Geneva International Airport. This was EasyJet's first new base outside the United Kingdom. On 16 May 2002, EasyJet announced its intention to purchase rival airline,
London Stansted-Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...
-based
GoGo Fly was the name of an award-winning British airline. It was purchased by EasyJet.-History:Bob Ayling, ex-chief of British Airways, approached EasyJet's founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, to ask whether he could visit claiming that he was fascinated by how the Greek entrepreneur had made the budget...
for £374 million. EasyJet inherited three new bases from Go, at
Bristol AirportBristol Airport may refer to:* Bristol Airport, serving Bristol, England, United Kingdom ** Bristol Airport , a docu-soap based on events at Bristol Airport...
, East Midlands Airport and
London Stansted Airport-Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...
. The acquisition of Go almost doubled the number of
Boeing 737–300The Boeing 737 Classic is the name given to the -300/-400/-500 series of the Boeing 737 following the introduction of the -600/-700/-800/-900 series. They are short- to medium- range, narrow-body jet airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Classic series was introduced as the 'new...
aircraft in the EasyJet fleet.
In 2001, EasyJet opened its base at Gatwick Airport, and between 2003 and 2007, EasyJet opened bases in Germany, France, Italy and Spain, establishing a sizeable presence in continental Europe. In 2007, EasyJet claimed to be operating more flights per day than any other European airline. On 25 October 2007 EasyJet announced that it had agreed to purchase the entire share capital of
GB AirwaysGB Airways was a UK airline; prior to its dissolution it was headquartered in "The Beehive," a former terminal building, at City Place Gatwick, London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex, England. It operated scheduled services as a British Airways franchise to 30 destinations in Europe and...
from the
Bland GroupThe Bland Group Ltd. is made up of a number of small operating companies based in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.-History:The Gaggero family has been running the business since 1891 although the company began in 1810 when Marcus Henry Bland, from Liverpool began a shipping company from...
. The deal was worth £103.5 million and was used to expand EasyJet operations at Gatwick Airport and also to establish a base at Manchester Airport.
In June 2011, EasyJet announced they will be opening their 11th UK base at
London Southend AirportLondon Southend Airport or Southend Airport is a regional airport in the district of Rochford within Essex, England.During the 1960s, Southend was the third-busiest airport in the United Kingdom. It remained London's third-busiest airport in terms of passengers handled until the end of the 1970s,...
, offering flights to
AlicanteAlicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
,
AmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
,
BarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Belfast International,
Faro-Places:*Faro District, in the Algarve, southern Portugal.**Faro Municipality, in the Algarve, southern Portugal.**Faro, Portugal, main city in Faro district.**Faro Airport in Faro, Portugal .**Roman Catholic Diocese of Faro, in Faro, Portugal....
,
MalagaMálaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
,
JerseyJersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
, Palma de Majorca and
IbizaIbiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
.
Strategy
EasyJet, like Ryanair, borrows its business model from United States carrier
Southwest AirlinesSouthwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...
. Both airlines have adapted this model for the European market through further cost-cutting measures such as not selling connecting flights or providing complimentary snacks on board. The key points of this business model are high aircraft utilisation, quick turnaround times, charging for extras (such as priority boarding, hold baggage and food) and keeping operating costs low. One main difference EasyJet and Ryanair have from Southwest is they both fly a young fleet of aircraft. Southwest have a fleet age of 14.1 years whereas EasyJet's fleet age is just 3.6 years.
Initially, EasyJet's employment strategy was to maintain control with minimal union involvement. However in recent years, the airline has adopted a more committed approach with a strategy in place to accommodate unions.
While the two airlines share a common business idea, EasyJet's strategy differs from Ryanair's in a number of areas. EasyJet flies mainly to primary airports in the cities that it serves, while Ryanair often chooses secondary airports to further reduce costs. For example, EasyJet flies to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Paris Orly, the primary airports in Paris, while Ryanair flies to the smaller Beauvais-Tillé Airport, a 75 minute bus journey from Paris. EasyJet also focuses on attracting business passengers by offering convenient services such as the option to transfer on to an earlier flight without charge.
Environment
In June 2007, EasyJet announced plans for construction of its own airliner, dubbed
EcoJet. Featuring
propfanA propfan was first defined as a small diameter, highly loaded multiple bladed variable pitch propulsor having swept blades with thin advanced airfoil sections, integrated with a nacelle contoured to retard the airflow through the blades thereby reducing compressibility losses and designed to...
engines, the EcoJet would feature an increase in
fuel efficiencyFuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the efficiency of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier fuel into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, which in turn may vary per application, and this spectrum of variance is...
. It would be constructed with extensive use of carbon fibre
composite materialComposite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...
. The date for the first flight was given to be in 2015.
EasyJet is offering the possibility to
carbon offsetA carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for or to offset an emission made elsewhere....
the CO
2 to their customers' trips for a
surchargeA surcharge may mean:*an extra fee added onto another fee or charge** Fuel surcharge, sky freight charges which represents additions due to jet fuel prices.** Bunker adjustment factor, sea freight charges which represents additions due to oil prices....
via a calculator which calculates a passenger's
carbon footprintA carbon footprint has historically been defined as "the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person.". However, calculating a carbon footprint which conforms to this definition is often impracticable due to the large amount of data required, which is...
.
In February 2011, EasyJet painted eight of its aircraft with a lightweight, thin "revolutionary nano technology coating"
polymerA polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. These subunits are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds...
. It works by reducing build-up of debris and reduces
dragIn fluid dynamics, drag refers to forces which act on a solid object in the direction of the relative fluid flow velocity...
across the surface of the aircraft, thus reducing the fuel bill. It is estimated they could save 1–2% annually, equating to a £14 million reduction in fuel costs. The idea has already been used by US military aircraft and if successful EasyJet will apply the paint to its whole fleet.
Destinations
EasyJet's five largest bases in order of size are Gatwick, Milan-Malpensa,
London-LutonLondon Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway...
,
London-Stansted-Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...
and
BristolBristol Airport may refer to:* Bristol Airport, serving Bristol, England, United Kingdom ** Bristol Airport , a docu-soap based on events at Bristol Airport...
.
NewcastleNewcastle International Airport is located in Woolsington in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, north-west of the city centre. In 2010 it was the 11th busiest airport in the United Kingdom....
airport is currently the airline's smallest base with 3 aircraft but EasyJet still offers more flights and destinations from here than all the non-base airports it serves.
EasyJet flies in a point to point model rather than the more traditional airline hub and spoke model where the passengers have to change aircraft in transit at a major airport. EasyJet prefers to fly to larger or primary airports usually close to major cities. For example EasyJet flies to the main Düsseldorf airport, instead of Weeze, the secondary airport serving Düsseldorf. Primary airports are not always close to the city they serve and in fact can be further than the city's minor airport, this is the case at
BelfastBelfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
,
GothenburgGothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
and Rome and in these cases, EasyJet still prefer to serve the major airport. EasyJet does still serve some secondary airports including Belfast-City,
London-LutonLondon Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway...
and Rome-Ciampino, but these cities have a major airport also served by EasyJet, so in no case does EasyJet fly to a secondary airport of a city without flying to a primary one.
EasyJet has 19 European 'bases'. Despite EasyJet being a British airline, and having a significant presence there, it has a significant presence in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and many other European countries. The United Kingdom is its biggest market, containing the airlines largest base and nine others as well as a total of six other non-base airports. Its three largest British bases in order of size are London's Gatwick,
LutonLondon Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway...
and
Stansted-Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...
airports.
EasyJet's largest competitor is
RyanairRyanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
, which unlike EasyJet has a focus on smaller or secondary airports and in recent years, has started targeting holiday makers. EasyJet focuses heavily on business passengers but operates a greater varierty of holiday destinations than Ryanair. However, EasyJet has a very low presence at holiday destinations like Greece with limted frequencies and only a small number of airports to fly from. Ryanair's is much higher, especially at all of the Canary Islands and some Greek Islands, in particular
KosKos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Kos peripheral unit, which is...
and
RhodesRhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
. Ryanair often refers to EasyJet as a high fares airline but EasyJet often criticises Ryanair for its choice of airports.
Fleet
The EasyJet fleet consists of the following aircraft (at September 2011):
EasyJet fleet
| Aircraft |
In Fleet |
Orders |
Passengers |
Notes |
| Airbus A319-100 The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
|
152 |
0 |
156 |
Largest A319 operator |
| Airbus A320-200 The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
|
31 |
37 |
180 |
|
| Total |
183 |
37 |
|
EasyJet is the largest operator of the Airbus A319. Subsidiary airline
EasyJet SwitzerlandEasyJet Switzerland SA is a low-cost airline based in Meyrin, Switzerland, operating scheduled flights as an EasyJet franchise out of Geneva Cointrin International Airport and Basel-Mulhouse International Airport....
operates 15 Airbus A319 and 4 Airbus A320 aircraft under Swiss registrations, in addition to the above.
Fleet strategy and aircraft orders
In common with most other low-cost carriers, EasyJet has a philosophy of operating just one aircraft type. Initially it used
Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
aircraft exclusively, but in October 2002 it ordered 120
Airbus A319The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
aircraft, plus 120
optionsAn option, when purchasing aircraft, allows an airline to purchase additional aircraft in the future at an agreed price and date.When placing orders for new aircraft, airlines commonly obtain options from the aircraft manufacturer, for example Airbus or Boeing...
, with CFM56-5B engines. Since then, the Boeings have been phased out, and all orders have been from the Airbus A320 family:
Airbus A320 family orders
| Date |
A319 |
A320 |
Options |
Purchase rights |
Notes |
| 30 December 2002 |
120 |
|
|
120 |
|
| 21 December 2005 |
140 |
|
|
100 |
20 purchase rights converted |
| 13 November 2006 |
192 |
|
|
123 |
52 purchase rights converted
75 new purchase rights |
| June 2007 |
227 |
|
24 |
64 |
35 purchase rights converted into orders
24 purchase rights converted into options |
| July 2008 |
202 |
25 |
24 |
64 |
25 A319 changed for A320 |
| February 2010 |
192 |
35 |
24 |
64 |
10 A319 changed for A320 |
| December 2010 |
172 |
70 |
42 |
31 |
15 A320 options converted
20 A319 changed for A320
33 purchase rights converted into options |
EasyJet's Airbus A319 aircraft were first introduced to EasyJet's Geneva base in October 2003. Due to toilet and galley configuration allowing the installation of more seats than a standard Airbus A319, EasyJet's Airbus A319 aircraft have two pairs of overwing exits, instead of the standard one pair configuration found on most Airbus A319 aircraft, to satisfy safety requirements. EasyJet has 33 outstanding options with
AirbusAirbus SAS is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company. Based in Blagnac, France, surburb of Toulouse, and with significant activity across Europe, the company produces around half of the world's jet airliners....
valid until March 2013 and 40 outstanding options and purchase rights valid until 2015, which may be taken as any member of the
Airbus A320 familyThe Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
.
Beginning in December 2006, the airline started to return the Boeing 737–700 aircraft to their
lessorsA lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
. The Belfast base was converted to an A319 operation; the conversion finished in March 2010 with a total of 6 A319 aircraft. EasyJet disposed of their entire Boeing 737 fleet by 2011.
Through the acquisition of
GB AirwaysGB Airways was a UK airline; prior to its dissolution it was headquartered in "The Beehive," a former terminal building, at City Place Gatwick, London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex, England. It operated scheduled services as a British Airways franchise to 30 destinations in Europe and...
, EasyJet inherited nine
Airbus A320The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
and six
Airbus A321The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
aircraft. This gave the airline some time to evaluate the feasibility of operating these larger gauge aircraft. Based on this evaluation, EasyJet decided to swap 25 A319 orders for A320 in July 2008 and later remove the A321 aircraft from the fleet.
Aircraft operated
EasyJet has operated the following types of aircraft:
Fleet history
| Aircraft |
Introduced |
Retired |
Seating |
Notes |
| Airbus A319-100 The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
|
2004 |
— |
156 |
In service |
| Airbus A320-200 The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
|
2008 |
— |
180 |
In service |
| Airbus A321-200 The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
|
2008 |
2010 |
220 |
Inherited from GB Airways |
Boeing 737–300The Boeing 737 Classic is the name given to the -300/-400/-500 series of the Boeing 737 following the introduction of the -600/-700/-800/-900 series. They are short- to medium- range, narrow-body jet airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Classic series was introduced as the 'new...
|
1996 |
2007 |
149 |
Replaced by A319s |
Boeing 737–700The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as Boeing 737NG, is the name given to the -600/-700/-800/-900 series of the Boeing 737 after the introduction of the -300/-400/-500 Classic series. They are short- to medium-range, narrow-body jet airliners...
|
2000 |
2011 |
148 |
Replaced by A319s and A320s |
Head office
Easyjet's head office is Hangar 89 (H89), a building located on the grounds of
London Luton AirportLondon Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway...
in
LutonLuton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
, Bedfordshire; the hangar, a former
Britannia AirwaysBritannia Airways was the largest charter airline in the United Kingdom, rebranded as Thomsonfly in 2005. Its main bases were Gatwick, London Luton, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow...
/
TUITUI AG is a German multinational travel and tourism company headquartered in Hanover. Until 2001 it was an industrial and transportation company named Preussag AG, which in the mid-1990s decided to reinvent itself as a tourism, shipping, and logistics company...
facility, is located 150 metres (492.1 ft) from EasyLand, the previous headquarters of EasyJet. Hangar 89, built in 1974, has 30000 square foot of office space and can house three aircraft the size of an
Airbus A319The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
at one time. When EasyJet received H89, it had a 1970s style office setup. EasyJet modernised the building and painted it orange.
Booking
Initially booking was by telephone only, with all EasyJet aircraft 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.
In December 1997, Russell Sheffield of Tableau, one of EasyJet's design and adverting agencies, suggested to Stelios Haji-Ioannou that he should consider trialling a website for direct bookings. Haji-Ioannou's reply was "The Internet is for nerds, it will never make money for my business!". However Tony Anderson, EasyJet's marketing director, and Michael Coltman, EasyJet's business manager, saw the potential and approved a website trial involving putting a different telephone reservations number on the website, to track success. Once Haji-Ioannou saw the results he changed his mind, and EasyJet commissioned Tableau as partners to develop an e-commerce website capable of offering real-time online booking from April 1998—the first low cost carrier to do so in Europe.
In December 2001, easyJet switched from a third-party reservation system to an in-house system designed and developed for them by BulletProof Technologies, Inc. Internet bookings were priced cheaper than booking over the phone, to reflect the reduced
call centreA call centre or call center is a centralised office used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone. A call centre is operated by a company to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers. Outgoing calls for telemarketing,...
costs and the aircraft were repainted with the web address. Within a year over 50% 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 3 months immediately before the flight when telephone booking is also available.
Cabin and onboard services
EasyJet's aircraft cabins are configured in a single class, high density layout.
The airline's main fleet, comprising
Airbus A319The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
and
A320The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
aircraft, carry up to 156 and 180 passengers respectively, depending on layout. A typical Airbus A319 carries approximately 140 passengers in a single class configuration, but as EasyJet do not serve meals on their shorter flights, the airline opted for smaller galleys and had a lavatory installed in unused space at the rear of the aircraft. The space saved by having smaller galleys allowed for the installation of 156 seats. Due to this seating arrangement, EasyJet's Airbus A319 aircraft have two pairs of overwing exits, instead of the standard one pair configuration found on most Airbus A319 aircraft, to satisfy safety requirements.
EasyJet does not provide complimentary meals or beverages on board its flights (apart for some occasional charter flights operated by the airline). Passengers may purchase items on board from the "EasyJet Bistro"
buy on boardIn commercial flight, buy on board is a system where food or beverages are paid for on board; often food or beverages are not included in the ticket price for certain fare classes....
programme. Products include sandwiches, toasted sandwiches, hot meals, chocolate, snacks, hot drinks, soft drinks and alcoholic drinks. Onboard sales are an important part of the airline's
ancillary revenueAncillary revenue refers to airline revenue from non-ticket sources, such as baggage fees and on-board food and services, and has become an important financial component for low-cost carriers in Europe, the United States and other global regions...
. EasyJet also sells gifts such as fragrances, cosmetics and EasyJet-branded items onboard, as well as tickets for airport transfer services or train tickets.
EasyJet have previously provided in-flight entertainment (IFE) on certain aircraft, using drop-down screens on some Airbus aircraft. During some of 2009 and 2010 they also provided passengers with the ability to rent portable Sony media players with movies and games on selected flights. Due to little demand and customers choosing to bring in their own entertainment on tablet computers and media devices, these services were withdrawn during 2010. EasyJet have headphones available to purchase, along with a travel pillow and eyeshades, subject to stock.
EasyJet provides an in-flight magazine, published monthly, containing articles of interest to its customers and destination guides. As of May 2010, EasyJet has been selling copies of
Hello,
Top GearTop Gear is an automobile magazine published by BBC Worldwide, and named after the BBC's Top Gear television show. It was first published in October 1993 and is published monthly at a price of £3.95. The major presenters of the television series—Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson—are...
, and
The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, all at cover price.
The TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
is also available onboard, at a price of £1, subject to stock.
EasyJet Hotels and EasyJet Holidays
On 14 December 2004, EasyJet and Hotelopia, a subsidiary of
First Choice HolidaysFirst Choice is a brand name used by TUI Travel PLC to sell package holidays in the United Kingdom.The brand is also the name of a chain of travel agents that are part of the same group....
, launched the co-branded EasyJetHotels accommodation booking service. EasyJetHotels offers accommodation products throughout the EasyJet network. Customers booking flights through the EasyJet website are provided with quotes for a number of hotels at their destination. Alternatively, customers can book accommodation separately at the EasyJetHotels website.
On 28 June 2007, EasyJet announced it would expand its relationship with Hotelopia by launching EasyJetHolidays, which offers Travel Trust Association protected
package holidayA package holiday or package tour consists of transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided like a rental car, activities or outings during the holiday. Transport can be via charter airline to a foreign country...
s made up of EasyJet flights and Hotelopia accommodation products.
On 6 November 2010, easyJet announced its venture with Low Cost Travel Group to offer EasyJet flights, dynamically packaged with Low Cost Travel Group's accommodation through the EasyJet Holidays website. As of March 2011, EasyJet Holidays have provided holidays and city breaks to all easyJet routes.
Criticism
EasyJet has also come under criticism in Germany for not observing
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
law on compensation (and assistance to passengers) in cases of denied boarding, delays or cancellations (Regulation 261/2004). In the case of cancellation, passengers should be reimbursed within one week. In 2006, EasyJet did not always refund tickets in a timely fashion. Passengers occasionally had to wait longer for reimbursement of their expenses.
EasyJet is a major supporter of the plans to replace the
air passenger dutyAir Passenger Duty is an excise duty which is charged on the carriage of passengers flying from a United Kingdom airport on an aircraft that has an authorised take off weight of more than ten tonnes or more than twenty seats for passengers...
(APD) tax in the UK with a new tax that varies depending on distance travelled and aircraft type.
In July 2008, the
Advertising Standards AuthorityThe Advertising Standards Authority is the self-regulatory organisation of the advertising industry in the United Kingdom. The ASA is a non-statutory organisation and so cannot interpret or enforce legislation. However, its code of advertising practice broadly reflects legislation in many instances...
criticised a press campaign by EasyJet for a misleading environmental claim that its aircraft made 22% less emissions than rival airlines. The figures used were not based on emissions produced by an EasyJet aircraft or emissions produced by EasyJet airline overall as the ad implied, and ASA declared that airline had broken advertising rules. The judgement follows the airline being reprimanded in April 2007 after it made comments that its aircraft created 30% less pollution per passenger than some of its rivals.
External links