EasyJet chairman, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou (pictured), kicked off the 2007 ITM conference in Edinburgh today in typically robust style, by attacking the recent doubling of Air Passenger Duty (APD) and the political targeting of aviation.
Addressing the 400-strong gathering of the great and the good from the business travel world, Stelios slated the tax as harming the economically disadvantaged and doing nothing for the environment, while bemoaning the fact that airlines were ”a lot easier to attack.”
Indeed, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer and Stelios were both on their feet at the same time although 400 miles apart, with the easyJet boss wondering aloud whether Gordon Brown had increased APD again. He had not, it turned out this afternoon.
”The irony of APD is that it will only affect poorer people,” he said, ”while an aircraft will simply have an 82% load factor instead of 85% - APD is not a green tax.”
The easyJet chairman was also adamant that the low-cost sector was here to stay ” despite charging for all the ”frills” ” noting that shareholder demand was largely responsible for driving down costs. ”Some 150 million people now fly on low-cost airlines across Europe, and I admit I”m biased, but when I see a businessman flying in the front cabin, I feel that shareholders” money is being wasted.”
He also called for airlines to be part of the European Aviation Emissions Trading Scheme, as well as engine manufacturers such as General Electric, Rolls-Royce and Snecma to drive forward engineering advances in powerplant design to achieve greater and cleaner propulsion.
And in tandem with fellow low-fare carriers, Flybe and bmibaby, easyJet has deliberately set out to woo the business passenger of late, although its rival airline in the sector, Ryanair, has apparently baulked at targeting the segment.
”Ryanair tends to be more about flying from nowhere to nowhere,” quipped Stelios, adding of the carrier”s flamboyant boss, Michael O”Leary: ”He”s a very successful man, he”s ruthless [but] I think he”s gone too far with his bravado and vocabulary.”
Stelios did however, have kinder words to say about the Virgin head and similarly press-friendly character, Richard Branson: ”He”s a lot more media-savvy about managing his public persona and is the past master at managing his company,” he added.