EASYJET

easyJet

[Name of the Institute]easyJet

Introduction

easyJet was established in 1995 as a low-cost airline, and has expanded rapidly since. Its initial flights were from London Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh and booking a flight was only possible by telephone. Travel agents would not sell easyJet flights, as they received no commission. Internet reservations began in 1998, and quickly became the most popular way of booking an easyJet flight. Approximately 95% of bookings are currently made via the internet. In 2008, the airline carried 43.7 million passengers, flying to 100 European, Turkish and North African airports (Mayer, 2003, p.123).

The airline has 19 bases throughout Europe, 11 of which are in the UK, four in France and one in each of Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. The company has closed its base in Dortmund, Germany, in October 2008 citing a lack of profit due to restrictions regarding night flying (Kottler, 2004, p.69-72). The easyJet fleet currently comprises 165 aircrafts, the majority of which are Airbus A319. The average age of the fleet is 3.5 years. The company has deferred some of its options for acquiring new Airbus planes, but aims to have a fleet of 197 Airbus planes owned entirely by easyJet by September 2011. As well as flights, easyJet also sells car rental, hotel and hostel accommodation, and travel insurance through its main website.

History

easyJet was founded in 1995 by Stelios Haji-Ioannou to offer low cost scheduled airline services within Europe. The company expanded its operations by operating flights between London Luton, Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Nice and Barcelona in 1996 (Doganis, 2006, p.78). The company's first wholly owned aircraft delivered in the same year. In 1997, the company started its services between Liverpool John Lennon and Amsterdam. In the same year, the company launched easyJet.com to provide information on the airline. The company acquired 40% stake in the Swiss based charter airline TEA Basel AG and later rebranded as easyJet Switzerland in 1998. In 2000, easyJet was listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company purchased Stansted-based low-cost airline 'Go' in 2002 (Doganis, 2010, p.62). In the same year, the company appointed Airbus as its preferred aircraft supplier. As part of the deal, easyJet placed a firm order for 120 Airbus A319 aircraft for delivery from September 2003 over five years, with a further 120 Airbus A319 aircraft scheduled to be ordered by 2012.

Major Products and Services

easyJet is an airline carrier company providing scheduled services, in-flight and related services.

The company's key and services include the following:

Services:

Scheduled airline services

In-flight services

Car hire

Hotel rooms

Online reservations

Top Competitors

The following companies are the major competitors of easyJet plc

Finnair Oyj

Air Partner plc

Air France-KLM

British Airways PLC

Ryanair Holdings PLC

PESTLE Analysis

Business environment characteristics are important to consider when deciding where an organization should base its operations. This is mainly because they affect the rate at which work is done and the efficiency. These characteristics are well defined or analyzed using the pestle analysis, which looks deeper in to the political, economic, social and technical characteristics of the host nation (Mayer, 2003, ...