easyJet

Airline Profile

EasyJet have been at the forefront of the no-frills revolution since they first started offering cheap flights between Scotland and London back in the mid-90s. Since then, easyJet has grown to become one of Europe's leading no-frills airlines.

As with its budget rival Ryanair, easyJet remains a brand as much loathed as loved not that it minds, secure as the companys Luton headquarters must be that their business model works.

Put simply, easyJet flies more passengers to its destinations across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East than any other UK-based airline. In the genesis of low-cost air travel, then, easyJet and Ryanair are the Cain and Abel: the siblings forever squabbling for supremacy, despite having more in common particularly in their instincts for PR and showmanship, and their customer service record than they might readily concede.

It was in 1995 that easySupremo Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the son of a Greek-Cypriot shipping magnate, first launched flights to Glasgow and Edinburgh from Luton Airport; one year later, the company's first international flight touched down in Amsterdam.

A rapid expansion followed. In 2000, easyJet floated on the London Stock Exchange; in 2001, it debuted flights from Gatwick; it 2002, it bought up low-cost rival Go, and inherited routes from Bristol International, East Midlands and Stansted.

Over the past decade, the company has seen its passenger numbers increase tenfold, from five million in 2000 to just under fifty million by the end of 2009.

Easyjet has bases at three major airports in London (Gatwick, Luton and Stansted), aswell as a smaller operation at the new terminal in Southend Airport.

Easyjet are also strong at UK regional airports, with major bases in Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow, aswell as in Belfast (Belfast International). The airline still offers a wide range of UK domestic flights, together with flights to most countries in Europe and flights to Morocco and Egypt in North Africa. Easyjet have also been bringing the low cost message to the Middle East, with the first low cost flights to Jordan and Israel.