Thirty years after a bright orange Boeing 737 first taxied down the runway at London Luton Airport bound for Glasgow, easyJet has recreated that historic journey – this time crewed entirely by staff who were all born the same month the airline took off.
The anniversary flight marked three decades since that first Luton departure on 10 November 1995, when Captain Fred Rivett and his crew launched what would become one of Britain’s biggest travel success stories. Rivett, now retired, joined this weekend’s special flight alongside 30-year-old pilots and cabin crew to mark the occasion.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been three decades since my crew and I flew that very first flight from Luton to Glasgow,” Rivett said. “Back then, easyJet was a bold new idea and a complete disruptor to the industry. To see how it has grown into the UK’s largest airline and helped millions travel across Europe and beyond is something I’m incredibly proud to have been part of.”
From those early days at Luton to more than 100 million passengers a year, easyJet’s journey has changed not only the way Britain flies, but also the way the country eats, socialises and spends its holidays. A new report commissioned by the airline highlights the “easyJet effect” – the cultural, social and economic impact of low-cost air travel on British life since 1995.
The study found that 94 per cent of people say holidaying abroad as a family is easier now than when they were children, while more than half of 18–35-year-olds remember flying with easyJet on their first overseas trip. Two-thirds of travellers say affordable local flights have made spontaneous weekend getaways possible, while 70 per cent credit lower fares with helping them form long-distance friendships and relationships that would otherwise have been impossible.
Chief executive Kenton Jarvis said the anniversary was a moment to celebrate not just the company’s success but the shift it helped create.
“easyJet has made it possible for millions of people to travel easily and affordably, opening up new opportunities that once felt out of reach,” he said. “Whether it’s a first trip abroad, a spontaneous weekend city break, a chance to reconnect with family and friends or making that all-important business meeting, easyJet has been there for some of life’s most important journeys.”
For Luton Airport chief executive Alberto Martin, the occasion was equally special, and he said: “The inaugural easyJet flight from LLA paved the way for a revolutionary new era in leisure travel and marked the beginning of a hugely successful relationship that continues to flourish 30 years on.”
The airline’s influence, according to the research, goes well beyond travel habits. More than eight in ten Brits say their tastes in food and drink have changed because of trips abroad, bringing everything from tapas and houmous to Aperol and burrata into British kitchens. Travel writers also credit easyJet with sparking the rise of the modern city break and inspiring a new “generation easyJet” of spontaneous travellers.
The economic figures tell their own story. Last year alone, easyJet generated £21 billion in value for the UK economy and supported almost 244,000 jobs – equivalent to £300 for every resident. Its fares, meanwhile, remain far cheaper than most household goods. The average starting fare on key routes like Luton to Glasgow or Amsterdam is still less than half its 1995 price in real terms.
From helping Luton Airport become one of the country’s busiest hubs to making foreign weekends as easy as a train to London, easyJet’s orange aircraft have reshaped the nation’s horizons. Thirty years on, the airline that once promised flights “for the price of a pair of jeans” has changed what it means to get away – and put a bit of Luton spirit into the heart of modern British travel.
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