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Easy to Malta > Will it be a base?
Low-cost airline easyJet has beaten tough competition and will be the first major low-cost airline to fly to Malta.
This was confirmed to The Malta Independent on Sunday by jubilant sources who said the final agreement is expected to be signed “soon”. The first flights are expected to start in April.
While the media in Malta and public opinion in general thought that only Ryanair was negotiating with the government and MIA, negotiations were also taking place with easyJet. Ryanair seemed to relish negotiating in the full glare of publicity while easyJet preferred to negotiate away from the media glare. It seems this approach has eased the problems and difficulties that arose and made for quicker solutions. It could not be ascertained which routes easyJet will fly.
News of this agreement will now put further pressure on Ryanair to either accept the government’s offer, or sit back and watch its competitor taking the Malta route with all its potential.
It will also put further pressure on Air Malta to continue and accelerate its restructuring process and to develop its core business.
In its website, easyJet says it is Europe’s leading low cost airline.
Stelios Haji-Ioannou founded the airline, and the family remains the major shareholder. He controls other separate easyGroup companies such as easyInternetCafe, easyCar.com, easyMoney, and easyValue. There are no “cross-shareholdings” between easyJet and these other easyGroup companies. easyJet operates independently from the other companies, although some “cross-marketing” agreements do exist.
The airline is based at easyLand, a bright orange building adjacent to the main taxiway at Luton Airport. In an industry where corporate HQs are generally considered to be the ultimate status symbol, it is the very embodiment of the easyJet low-cost ethos.
Anybody knows whether this will be a base?
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