Stelios changes tune at Easyjet

SIR Stelios Haji-Ioannou has called a truce with Easyjet in a bitter row over a multi-billion pound order for new planes.

The airline’s founder and biggest shareholder backed buying 56 A320neo planes from Airbus, part of a 2013 order for 107 craft worth £4.5bn which he had said would sink the firm when flights were grounded after Covid struck.

The Cypriot tycoon, whose family owns 15pc of Easyjet, repeatedly lashed out at Easyjet bosses throughout the pandemic and sought to unseat four directors.

He branded management ‘scoundrels’, threatened to sue them and offered £5m to whistleblowers for information that would scupper the deal.

He said going ahead with the order ‘could be the biggest scandal in British corporate history’.

The airline lost billions of pounds while international travel was halted. But the 55-year- old’s change of heart marks a thawing of tensions.

Easyjet said the aircraft would consume 15pc to 25pc less fuel, ‘significantly reducing’ costs.

They are also more profitable as they contain more seats. It said the price would be a lot lower than £4.5bn, due to concessions.