easyJet

In 1995, a Greek-Cypriot entrepreneur named Stelios Haji-Ioannou launched a low-cost airline from London Luton Airport. His first flight, to Glasgow on November 10, used two leased Boeing 737-200s and offered fares as low as £29. The idea was simple: strip away the extras, fill the seats, and make flying affordable for everyone. That airline became easyJet.

Within a decade, easyJet had swallowed rival Go Fly in 2002 and acquired GB Airways in 2007, turning itself into a pan-European network. Today it operates from 29 bases across the continent, with a fleet of over 320 Airbus A320-family aircraft. London Gatwick is its biggest hub, but it also dominates at Milan Malpensa, Geneva, and Amsterdam. The airline carried nearly 70 million passengers in 2022, making it Europe's second-largest low-cost carrier behind Ryanair.

easyJet has always positioned itself as the friendlier alternative to Ryanair. Its orange livery is a familiar sight at primary airports, and it offers allocated seating, a loyalty subscription called easyJet Plus, and a growing package holiday division launched in 2019. The airline has also been an early adopter of mobile boarding passes and self-service bag drops. On the sustainability front, it partnered with Rolls-Royce in 2023 to develop hydrogen combustion engines, aiming for zero-emission short-haul flights by the 2030s. But the company has faced its share of turbulence: a very public feud with its founder over fleet expansion, backlash over COVID-19 refund policies, and environmental criticism over carbon offsets.[edit]