Three decades after its first orange plane took off from Luton Airport bound for Glasgow, easyJet is celebrating its 30th anniversary as a local success story with figures showing just how far the home-grown airline has come — and how much it continues to give back to the UK economy.
Founded at Luton Airport in 1995 with a single leased aircraft, easyJet has grown from a scrappy low-cost challenger into the country’s largest airline, carrying 50 million passengers to and from the UK each year. The company’s new EasyJet Effect report, released today to mark the milestone, claims the airline contributed £21billion in Gross Value Added to the UK economy over the past year and supported almost a quarter of a million jobs.
For Luton, where the orange brand’s first ever flight took off on 10 November 1995, the anniversary is also a reminder of the town’s role in reshaping modern air travel. What began as a bold experiment in budget flying from Bedfordshire has grown into a network serving over 1,000 routes across Europe and North Africa, with more than 12,000 staff based in the UK.
Chief executive Kenton Jarvis said easyJet had stayed true to its roots even as it expanded across the continent.
“Very few companies remain as close to their roots as easyJet and now, in our 30th year, our mission remains to democratise travel – always aiming to make flying easy and affordable,” he said. “The UK is now better connected than ever, and flying is more affordable than it was 30 years ago. In short, this is the easyJet effect.”
The airline’s economic footprint extends far beyond its headquarters beside the Luton runway. Around 15 million tourists flew with easyJet last year, spending nearly £10 billion across the UK. Almost 60 per cent of those visitors landed outside London, underlining the airline’s role in boosting regional economies.
easyJet also highlighted that fares on its original 1990s routes — including those from Luton to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Milan and Barcelona — are now more than 50 per cent cheaper in real terms than when they were launched. The first easyJet fare in 1995 cost £29 to Glasgow; adjusted for inflation that would be £58 today, yet the current starting price is £26.
That pricing revolution has reshaped expectations of air travel. A recent consumer survey found 96 per cent of Britons believe easyJet has made flying more accessible, while 94 per cent say family holidays to Europe are easier than in their childhood.
The airline now operates 356 aircraft, with another 290 on order. It continues to invest in cleaner, quieter planes as part of its goal to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Mr Jarvis said easyJet’s focus on efficiency and sustainability was central to ensuring flying “never reverts back to being the preserve of only the rich”.
From its modest beginnings on the Luton tarmac to a European network carrying 100 million passengers a year, easyJet’s 30-year story remains rooted where it started — in the idea that affordable air travel should be for everyone.
1 Trackback / Pingback