SWOT TEAM easyJet is Europe’s leading low fares airline. Formed in 1995 by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, it has grown rapidly to become Europe’s fourth largest airline by passengers carried. Sir Stelios has credited easyJet’s success to two strategic imperatives. The first was “sweating the assets”, that is making sure that the planes were as full as possible and flying as much as possible. The second was a sophisticated yield management system which would set an infinite number of fares for a given flight, based on the demand and supply position for that flight. The prices for the seats fluctuated depending on the demand for them at a particular time. easyJet was the first LCC to start the sale of its airline tickets online.
In 1999, Stelios was voted London Entrepreneur of the Year at the London Electricity Londoner of the Year Awards. In the same year, easyJet was voted «Best Low Cost Airline» by readers of Business Traveler magazine for the first time. easyJet was selected as a Business Superbrand by the Superbrand Council which recognizes companies with an outstanding brand name in November 1999. Other Superbrand companies include such globally-recognized names as Virgin, Coca-Cola and Manchester United. In December 1999, ‘Marketing’ magazine described the launch of easyJet as «one of the 100 great marketing moments of the 20th century».
Stelios entered the Guinness Book of Records for being the world’s youngest international scheduled airline chairman when he launched easyJet in 1995 at 28 years of age. Sir Stelios was knighted by the Queen in June 2006, for services to entrepreneurship.
The combination of favorable market conditions, robust operating principles and world-class marketing, underpinned by the entrepreneurial vision of the man now known to the public simply as Stelios, brought success and fame to easyJet.
History
The easyJet airline was founded in 1995 by Stelios Haji-Ioannou, with £5million family loan and 20 staff