Easyjet Turns 30: The British Airline That Revolutionised Tourism

BRITAIN’S biggest fund hose is celebrating 3 decades of low-cost recreation and irreplaceable memories. EasyJet, nan British multinational hose headquartered successful London, is celebrating nan day of its very first flight, which took spot connected November 10, 1995 and started a thirty-year bequest of affordable travels crossed Europe.

Humble beginnings and a jaw-dropping value tag

EasyJet was founded successful March of 1995 by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, inspired by nan low-cost exemplary of American airlines. The hose was established by Stelios (the first institution successful what would go nan EasyGroup conglomerate), and launched pinch conscionable 70 full employees. Its first flight, which was EZY 121 and took spot connected a Boeing 737-200, took disconnected from Luton to Glasgow. Its earliest trading motto was “making flying arsenic affordable arsenic a brace of jeans” … and that it was; each of its 122 passengers paid £29, aliases conscionable nether €33, for nan flight, and nan onboard refreshments included a cup of tea, astatine £1, and a shortbread astatine 50p. The £29 value tag was made clear to beryllium nan lowest disposable value for a formation astatine nan time, but moreover nan higher-cost tickets astatine £59, aliases conscionable complete €67, were still strikingly debased compared to competitors.

EasyJet was instantly popular. Adding routes complete nan adjacent fewer years, nan low-cost bearer enabled excited, holidaymaking Brits to scheme trips to different destinations, from pub crawls successful Barcelona to land retreats successful Ibiza, pinch unbeatable pricing – a fraction of what it mightiness person costs pinch different airline.

EasyJet: revolutionising recreation for Brits from nan very beginning

The hose group retired to revolutionise aviation successful nan UK, and that it did. Just wrong its first year, EasyJet reportedly carried astir 40,000 passengers connected unforgettable holidays. The adjacent year, successful April of 1996, EasyJet acquired its first wholly owned aircraft, making nan company’s first world way possible. The formation journeyed to Amsterdam, putting EasyJet successful nonstop title pinch rival airlines British Airways and Dutch emblem bearer KLM. Four years later, successful November of 2000, EasyJet was officially floated connected nan London Stock Exchange.

In fact, EasyJet’s fame led it to becoming nan largest hose successful nan UK successful nan twelvemonth 2010, flying an unthinkable 500 routes.

Breaking barriers wrong its first decade

In 2012, EasyJet became nan world’s largest A319 usability and Europe’s largest A320 family operator. In March of 2013, EasyJet launched its 100th way from London Gatwick Airport and was offering flights straight from London to Moscow. By 2015, nan institution was offering routes to much than 130 destinations successful 31 different countries; it operated 26 bases centred astir Europe, and had a full of a whopping 10,000 employees. 

The twelvemonth 2016 saw nan institution break moreover much barriers and make history. Firstly, EasyJet opened a Venice base, marking nan first guidelines for business recreation successful northeastern Italy. Additionally, EasyJet launched nan World’s largest self-service container driblet astatine Gatwick. Today, EasyJet is estimated to beryllium worthy £3.58 billion, aliases much than €4 billion.

Overcoming nan pandemic and a grounded fleet

But this travel was not without hardship. Like galore airlines crossed nan world, EasyJet was deed difficult by nan COVID-19 pandemic, and was forced to crushed each its flights successful March of 2020. In April of 2020, EasyJet received a £600 cardinal (€682 million) indebtedness from nan UK Government, and successful June of 2020, EasyJet announced it would resume flights, flying half of its routes successful July 2020 and up to 75 per cent successful August 2020, pinch reduced frequency. May of 2020 besides came pinch nan revelation that nan institution had been unfortunate to a cyber attack, which leaked nan individual accusation of 9 cardinal clients.

However, pinch a beardown and eager extremity to go Europe’s astir beloved airline, EasyJet restored its formation schedule by 2021 and crafted various plans to retrieve from nan pandemic, merchandise much fare bundles, and, possibly astir impressively, execute nett zero by nan twelvemonth 2050.

EasyJet, expanding endlessly

Last year, successful 2024, nan institution expanded its web to 30 bases by opening 2 caller bases successful Alicante and Birmingham, and has been continuing to grow and adhd much routes successful Europe and successful peculiar betwixt Spain and nan UK, further connecting nan 2 desirable destinations and encouraging Britons’ emotion matter pinch nan Mediterranean country.

At nan tail extremity of this September 2025, EasyJet won nan Airline of nan Year grant astatine World Routes, pinch nickname of its debased fares, sustainable network, and collaborative partnerships pinch airports and destinations. 

Just up of its 30th birthday, nan hose celebrates having revolutionised low-cost European recreation for each passengers – but particularly Brits – and looks guardant to galore much years of accessible holidays and unfastened doors for those eager to get to cognize nan world.

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