EasyJet facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
EasyJet plc

Founded	1995; 30 years ago (1995)
Operating bases	Belfast–International Birmingham Bristol Edinburgh Glasgow Liverpool London–Gatwick London–Luton Manchester
Frequent-flyer program	Flight Club
Subsidiaries	EasyJet UK easyJet Europe EasyJet Switzerland (40%) EasyJet Holidays
Fleet size	336 (Jan 2024)
Destinations	157
Headquarters	Hangar 89, London Luton Airport, Luton, England, United Kingdom
Key people	Sir Stephen Hester (Non-executive chairman) Johan Lundgren (CEO)
Revenue	£8,171 million (2023)
Operating income	£476 million (2023)
Net income	£(324) million (2023)
Employees	16,000 (2024)

EasyJet is a large British airline group. It is known as a low-cost airline. This means it tries to offer cheaper flights. Its main office is at London Luton Airport in England.

EasyJet flies to many places. It has 927 routes in over 34 countries. It does this through its airlines like EasyJet UK and EasyJet Europe. EasyJet is a big company listed on the London Stock Exchange. This means you can buy shares in the company.

The company has about 16,000 employees. Most of them are based in the UK. Since it started in 1995, EasyJet has grown a lot. It bought other airlines and opened new bases. This happened because many people wanted cheaper flights. In 2022, EasyJet carried over 69.7 million passengers. This made it the second-largest budget airline in Europe.

EasyJet was even featured on TV! There was a show called Airline (1998–2007). It showed how the airline worked. Another show, easyJet: Inside the Cockpit, followed its pilot training.

EasyJet's History: How It Started

The Idea Behind EasyJet

EasyJet was started by a man named Stelios Haji-Ioannou. He was from Greece and Cyprus. He became interested in airlines. He saw that there was a need for cheaper flights. His father helped him with a £5 million loan.

Stelios studied other airlines. He was very interested in Southwest Airlines in America. Southwest made flying cheaper than even bus tickets. This idea became very important for EasyJet. They wanted to make flying affordable for everyone.

Starting the Airline in 1995

EasyJet began in 1995. It was the first company in what became the EasyGroup. At first, it had only 70 employees. Its main base was London Luton Airport. This airport was mostly used for holiday flights back then.

Luton Airport helped EasyJet by giving them a free building. They called it EasyLand. EasyJet kept its costs low. For example, they tried to use less paper. At first, EasyJet used two Boeing 737-200 planes. These planes could carry 130 passengers. They flew from Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

EasyJet's early ads focused on its low prices. In its first year, about 40,000 people flew with EasyJet.

Growing and Competing

In April 1996, EasyJet got its first plane that it owned. This allowed them to start international flights. Their first international route was to Amsterdam. They competed with bigger airlines like British Airways and KLM.

Other airlines reacted differently. Some didn't care much. Others, like KLM, tried to lower their prices a lot. The European Union even looked into this. Traditional airlines found it hard to copy EasyJet's low prices. This was because of rules with their employee unions.

For a while, other companies flew and maintained EasyJet's planes. This was until EasyJet got its own special license.

Becoming a Public Company

On November 5, 2000, EasyJet became a public company. This meant people could buy its shares on the London Stock Exchange. In 2013, EasyJet joined the FTSE 100 Index. This is a list of the 100 biggest companies in the UK.

By 2015, EasyJet flew to over 130 places in 31 countries. It had 26 bases in Europe. It also had 10,000 employees.

Expanding and Buying Other Airlines

A Go Fly Boeing 737-300 in 2004

In 1998, EasyJet bought part of a Swiss airline. It was renamed EasyJet Switzerland. This became EasyJet's first base outside the UK. In 2002, EasyJet bought a rival airline called Go Fly. This added three new bases: Bristol Airport, East Midlands Airport, and London Stansted Airport. Buying Go Fly almost doubled EasyJet's fleet of Boeing 737-300 planes.

EasyJet opened a base at Gatwick Airport in 2002. Between 2003 and 2007, it opened more bases. These were in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. By 2007, EasyJet said it flew more flights each day than any other European airline.

In 2007, EasyJet bought another airline called GB Airways. This helped them grow more at Gatwick. It also helped them start a base at Manchester Airport.

In 2011, EasyJet opened its eleventh UK base. This was at London Southend Airport. It offered flights to many popular holiday spots.

In 2017, EasyJet announced a new European office in Austria. This was to make sure they could keep flying easily after Brexit.

In March 2020, EasyJet stopped all flights for a while. This was because of travel rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. They flew 650 "rescue flights" to bring 45,000 people home. In April 2020, EasyJet got a large loan from the UK government. They started flying again in July 2020.

In May 2020, EasyJet found out that its customer information was accessed in a cyber-attack. This affected 9 million customers.

In September 2021, EasyJet said it turned down an offer to be bought by another airline, Wizz Air.

How EasyJet Works

Business Strategy

EasyJet uses a business model similar to Southwest Airlines. They have made it work for Europe. They cut costs in many ways:

• They don't sell connecting flights.
• They don't give free snacks on board.
• They use their planes a lot.
• They have quick turnaround times at airports.
• They charge extra for things like choosing your seat or checking bags.

Unlike some older airlines, EasyJet and Ryanair use newer planes. Their planes are usually only about six years old.

At first, EasyJet didn't assign seats. Passengers just picked any empty seat. You could pay extra to board first. Since 2012, all passengers get a seat number before boarding. This helps make boarding faster and can earn more money. You can pay extra for seats with more legroom.

Financial Performance

The COVID-19 pandemic had a big effect on EasyJet. From the start of the pandemic until August 2020, EasyJet raised over £2.4 billion. This included a £600 million loan from the UK government. In November 2020, EasyJet announced its first yearly loss in 25 years. This was because of the pandemic and lockdowns.

Here are some key numbers for EasyJet:

EasyJet's Main Office

Hangar 89 at London Luton Airport, EasyJet's head office

EasyJet's main office is called Hangar 89. It is located at London Luton Airport. This building used to be a hangar for planes. It has 30,000 square feet of office space. It can also fit three Airbus A319 planes inside. EasyJet made the building modern and painted it orange.

Marketing and Advertising

EasyJet's first slogan was "making flying as affordable as a pair of jeans." They wanted people to book directly, not through travel agents. Their early planes even had the phone number painted on the side!

The TV show Airline helped make EasyJet famous in the UK. Even though the show didn't always make them look perfect, it helped promote the airline. EasyJet has used many slogans over the years. Some include "The Web's Favourite Airline" and "To Fly, To Save." Their current slogan is "This is Generation easyJet."

Caring for the Environment

EasyJet has tried to be more environmentally friendly. In 2007, they talked about a new plane called EcoJet. It was supposed to use less fuel. It would use special engines and light materials. They hoped it would cut pollution by 50%. However, not much has been said about this project since then.

In 2011, EasyJet tried a special paint on some planes. This paint was very thin and light. It helped reduce dirt buildup and made the plane smoother. This meant the planes used less fuel. EasyJet hoped to save millions of pounds each year.

EasyJet is also working on electric planes. In 2017, they partnered with a company called Wright Electric. They want to develop a 120-seat electric plane. This plane would have no emissions and be quieter. EasyJet hopes to use electric planes within 10 years.

Since November 2019, EasyJet has been offsetting its carbon emissions. This means they invest in projects that reduce greenhouse gases. They are the first major airline to have "net-carbon-zero" flights. This is a temporary step while they work on new, cleaner aircraft. They are also working with Airbus on hydrogen-powered planes.

Operating in Europe

After the UK left the European Union (Brexit), EasyJet made a plan. They set up a new airline called EasyJet Europe in Austria. This helps them keep flying easily within and between EU countries. This new airline is based in Vienna.

EasyJet said this change would not cause job losses in the UK. EasyJet UK staff still work in Luton. The EasyJet group now has three airlines: EasyJet UK, EasyJet Europe, and EasyJet Switzerland.

Where EasyJet Flies

Countries in which EasyJet operates as of February 2024

As of January 2024, EasyJet flies to 183 different places.

Here are some of the busiest airports for EasyJet in 2023:

Top airports by destinations in 2023

Airport	IATA	Destinations
London–Gatwick	LGW	120
Geneva	GVA	80
Bristol	BRS	78
Manchester	MAN	76
London–Luton	LTN	69
Milan–Malpensa	MXP	62
Berlin	BER	59
Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg	BSL	58
Amsterdam	AMS	50
Edinburgh	EDI	43
Lyon	LYS	41
Naples	NAP	41
Nice	NCE	41
Paris–Charles de Gaulle	CDG	41
Belfast–International	BFS	36
Lisbon	LIS	36
Glasgow	GLA	35
Birmingham	BHX	30
Porto	OPO	27
Palma de Mallorca	PMI	26
Venice	VCE	23
Paris–Orly	ORY	22

EasyJet's Planes

An EasyJet Airbus A319-100 wearing the former livery

An EasyJet Airbus A320neo

An EasyJet Airbus A321neo

Current Fleet

EasyJet only uses planes from the Airbus A320 family. As of January 2024, the group has these planes:

Plane Strategy and Orders

Like other low-cost airlines, EasyJet tries to use only one type of plane. This helps them save money on training and maintenance. At first, they used only Boeing 737 planes. But in 2002, they ordered 120 Airbus A319 planes. Since then, all their new orders have been for Airbus A320 family planes. They have slowly stopped using Boeing planes.

In 2013, EasyJet announced they would buy 35 more Airbus A320 planes. They also ordered 100 Airbus A320neo planes. The A320neo planes are newer and more fuel-efficient. Some of these new planes will replace their older A319s.

In 2017, EasyJet changed some of its A320neo orders to Airbus A321neo planes. These A321neo planes are larger. The CEO said bigger planes help EasyJet carry more people at busy airports. They also help cut costs.

Past Planes EasyJet Used

A former EasyJet Boeing 737-200 in 1997

A former EasyJet Boeing 737-700 in 2005

EasyJet has used these planes in the past:

EasyJet Services

Booking Flights

An EasyJet Boeing 737-33V in the telephone number livery

When EasyJet first started, you could only book flights by phone. The phone number was even painted on the planes! Travel agents didn't get paid to book EasyJet flights. This was different from other airlines.

In 1997, someone suggested EasyJet try a website for bookings. The founder, Stelios, thought the internet was "for nerds." But others saw the potential. In April 1998, EasyJet launched its website. It was the first low-cost airline in Europe to offer real-time online booking.

In 2001, EasyJet started using its own booking system. Booking online was cheaper than by phone. This was because it cost less for EasyJet. Soon, most bookings were made on the website. By 2004, 98% of bookings were online.

In 2011, EasyJet launched its mobile app. Customers could book flights and keep their boarding passes on their phones. In 2019, about 21.8% of bookings were made using the app.

Onboard Services

Interior of an EasyJet A320neo

EasyJet's planes can carry many passengers. For example, the Airbus A319 can carry 156 people. EasyJet does not serve free meals or drinks on flights. You can buy snacks and drinks from their "Eat Drink Shop" menu. Selling things on board helps the airline earn more money. They also sell perfumes, cosmetics, and duty-free items. EasyJet has a magazine called The Traveller.

EasyJet used to have screens for entertainment on some planes. But now, they don't. You can sometimes buy headphones or travel pillows. On some EasyJet Switzerland flights, you can connect to "Air Time" WiFi. This lets you watch movies and read books.

Loyalty Programs and Holidays

EasyJet offers special services for people who fly often. These include:

• Flexi Fare: A more expensive ticket that lets you change your flight dates for free. It also includes free checked baggage and a refreshment voucher.
• EasyJet Plus: A yearly membership. It gives you free seat choice (including extra legroom), priority check-in, fast security, and speedy boarding.
• Flight Club: This is their loyalty program for frequent flyers.

EasyJet also helps people book holidays. Since 2004, they have offered EasyJetHotels. This service helps you find hotels where EasyJet flies. In 2007, they launched EasyJet Holidays. This offers full holiday packages, combining flights and hotels.

In 2019, EasyJet planned to restart its package holiday business. This was after another holiday company, Thomas Cook, went out of business. EasyJet wants to offer different types of holidays, not just the usual 7 or 14 nights.

Images for kids

• 

  A former EasyJet Boeing 737-200 in 1997

• 

  A former EasyJet Boeing 737-700 in 2005

Error: no page names specified (help). In Spanish: EasyJet para niños