Geneva (dpa) – Air travellers who can do without plush seats, elegant stewardesses and gourmet meals are sitting pretty in the bright orange aircraft operated by the joint British-Swiss airline easyJet.
“We don’t offer any frills,” explained easyJet boss Stelios Haji- Ioannou, who as the son of a Greek shipping magnate, is no stranger to luxury. EasyJet’s fares are now so cheap that the company is posing a serious threat to its main competitors Swissair and British Airways.
At the beginning of June bargain hunters were able to fly from Geneva to London and back for around 50 dollars, including airport taxes. The only snag was that the seats could often only be booked on the Internet and only then if passengers were prepared to make up their minds well in advance.
For cost reasons easyJet does not work with travel agencies. Bookings are taken directly by telephone or via the Internet. Booking online also saves a customer money with the result that easyJet sells 70 percent of tickets via the Worldwide Web.
EasyJet operates on the “First Minute” principle which means that unlike Last Minute clients, people wanting to fly pay less when there are still plenty of seats available while latecomers can find the flight easily costing three times as much.
The cheap flights company claims to have a turnover of 12 million Swiss francs (7.2 million dollars) a week and is already in the black. It flies to 18 European city destinations, with the main hubs at Luton, north of London, Liverpool and Geneva.
“We expect to get a few German destinations in the next few years,” said Stelios, who likes everyone to call him by his first name.
For the time being, the Greek businessmen intends to concentrate on a new chain of Internet cafes in Germany called easyEverything. Berlin and Munich are earmarked for the opening of the first locations with seating for several hundred people.
Stelios is meanwhile already thinking about the next project. Several months ago he opened the first easyRentacar branches in London, Glasgow and Barcelona. To cut costs customer have no choice of which model to hire since the firm only offers the Mercedes A- class. In Barcelona though a client can rent a Smart minicar.
The next scheme called easyMoney is already in the pipeline although the pilot project is aimed at Britain only. Stelios is still on the lookout for a partner for his new Internet bank, someone who knows the business. At the moment he is talking to the Bank of Scotland.
EasyJet is also planning to raise its capital in the near future in order to finance the purchase of 32 new airliners. The bargain airline wants to go public in London, with 20 percent of the shares available on the free market. A further 15 per cent are set aside for employees with the majority of stocks still being held by Stelios and his family.
Stelios obtained the start-up capital for easyJet from his wealthy father in 1995 yet he has succeeded in building up an image of himself as a champion of the ordinary man who takes on big companies like Barclay’s Bank, the owner of Luton Airport, or Swissair on behalf of the average consumer.
The Swiss airline tried to squeeze easyJet out of the market and Stelios believes German national carrier Lufthansa “will be be aggressive opponent”. Stelios has apartments in Athens and Monaco but spends most of his time travelling. “I love setting up new companies,” he said “but the firms are then supposed to run without me.”
Stelios also loves bold gestures like the time when he shocked Swissair by offering a flight from Geneva to Barcelona for 50 Swiss francs. The SAirGroup was able to obtain an injunction but Stelios soon found a loophole.
Since he was forced to offer the route as a charter operator he hit on the idea of giving passengers a free bus ticket for a ride into downtown Barcelona and a voucher for an overnight stay in a tiny tent on a campsite without running water and 60 kilometres from Barcelona. “So far the offer has only been taken up by four journalists and two students,” said Stelios with a grin.
