UK budget carrier easyJet has confirmed new Summer 2012 routes from a number of its UK bases, but its expansion plans have come under a massive shadow after it emerged in the past couple of days that the company’s founder Sir Stelios Haji-Iaonnou is looking to set up a rival airline under the FastJet brand.
The entrepreneur has been embroiled in a highly-publicised dispute with the senior management of easyJet over the past couple of years, but this seems to have reached a new level with the suggestion that he is looking to set up a rival airline after accusing easyJet’s management of running a smear campaign against him. Haji-Ioannou had previously agreed not to set up a competitor to easyJet as part of a deal which avoided court action and saw the low-cost airline increase the annual royalty it paid to Haji-Ioannou’s easyGroup.
The businessman now believes this agreement is no longer valid and in a statement said: “Sir Stelios strongly believes that the directors of easyJet, via a smear campaign conducted by off-the-record briefings to journalists, have repeatedly breached the clause, so he has terminated the effect of the letter for repudiatory breach and has rejected all payments offered under this letter since May 2011.”
easyJet responded immediately with their own ‘punch’, revealing that it had received notice that Sir Stelios “intends to set up an airline branded Fastjet and that a website, www.fastjet.com, has already been established”. easyJet vowed to take “necessary action” to protect its rights and “the interests of its shareholders”, while rejecting Haji-Ioannou’s claims and stating that it was still seeking “constructive dialogue” with its founder.
It is not known what form the proposed start-up Fastjet will take. Will it be a budget carrier? Where will it operate? What aircraft type will it fly? And, will it compete head-to-head with easyJet? The company’s website provides no clues, with just the words ‘Fastjet.com - by Stelios. Coming soon!’, displaying on the homepage against a red background, suggesting that while easyJet is turning Europe orange, it may soon find a red devil hitting its ambitions. But, with Sir Stelios and his family owning 38 per cent of easyJet, surely he would not want to damage this investment and could FastJet be looking at a complementary model to his original airline venture.
This news came at the end of a busy week of route announcements from easyJet and the celebration of carrying 65 million passengers from London Luton Airport, its first ever base. Television personality Lorraine Chase, who checked in easyJet's first ever passenger at the airport in 1995, was on hand to toast the milestone occasion and the confirmation of a new route to Corfu.
Elsewhere in London, at its newest base in the UK capital, easyJet has confirmed it will add a new route between London Southend and Jersey from May 2, 2012. This is in addition to the eight destinations it has already announced it will serve from the airport when it inaugurates flights there next summer. The flight will operate four times a week and is a destination that is already served from London Southend on a seasonal basis by Flybe. As things stand the two airlines are likely to co-exist on the route as much of Flybe’s capacity is underpinned by travel agent bookings.
“We are excited to announce our new route to Jersey from easyJet’s newest base,” said Catherine Lynn, Customer and Revenue Director, easyJet. “It is testament to the success of our initial eight new destinations from London Southend Airport that we are already able to increase choice for passengers in East London and Essex.” The airline made tickets available for its initial eight routes - Amsterdam, Alicante, Barcelona, Belfast, Faro, Ibiza, Malaga and Palma – in July and confirms that sales are outperforming other London Airports by up to three per cent.
“Jersey from London Southend is a popular and historic route which has stood the test of time. It has needed additional capacity for some time and we welcome easyJet fulfilling this,” Alastair Welch, Managing Director, London Southend Airport told The HUB at this week’s European Regions Airline Association General Assembly in Rome.
There will also be growth in Scotland as easyJet adds flights in April from Edinburgh to Dalaman and Naples, the country’s first direct scheduled flight to the Italian city. The introduction of the Dalaman route is a direct result to the collapse of Holidays4U earlier this year and the strong demand for capacity to this part of Turkey, while Naples is expected to become a popular sun and city destination in addition to providing a further link for Scotland’s large Italian community. The new routes are possible due to the arrival of a fifth aircraft at the Edinburgh base, an Airbus A320,which has been used to launch a connection to Athens this month and flights to Grenoble and Tenerife later this year.
“2011 has been an incredible year for easyJet in Scotland, the highlight of which is the recent launch of Scotland’s only direct route to Athens, connecting Edinburgh – the Athens of the North – to the Greek capital,” said Hugh Aitken, Commercial Manager, Scotland, easyJet. “Naples will be yet another Scottish first for easyJet and is set to become a popular inbound and outbound destination, while we are also pleased to be able to provide much needed capacity on the popular Edinburgh to Dalaman route.”
The Italian city of Naples will also be served from the airline’s Bristol base for the first time, adding to existing connections to Olbia, Pisa and Rome. easyJet will offer a three times weekly service on the route from May 12, 2012, a service that is likely to prove popular with both business and leisure travellers. Naples is Italy’s third largest city and has a developing reputation thanks to its lively atmosphere and close proximity to some of Italy’s most famous landmarks. Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii are both easily accessible from the city as well as the islands of Capri and Ischia which make Naples a good base for exploring.
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