Stelios blasts ‘dishonest’ easyJet board

EASYJET founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou is preparing a fresh attack on the airline’s board.

At a shareholder meeting on Tuesday week, he is set to accuse directors of being ‘dishonest’ about the state of the airline’s finances.

EasyJet has t a pped investors for £419 million to survive the coronavirus crisis – and needs shareholders to approve about £140 million of that at the meeting.

Ahead of the vote, HajiIoannou blasted directors for describing the company as a going concern at the last shareholder vote in May and failing to issue a warning of the potential need to raise more cash. He said: ‘Just one month later the directors felt it necessary to raise more equity.

‘ We therefore have to conclude that the directors’ answer of May 22 was dishonest as, without the additional £ 419 million, the company would not have been a going concern.’

Haji- Ioannou has not contributed to the fundraising, which has diluted his stake to below 30 per cent. He has said that he will not put ‘ another penny’ into easyJet until it scraps its orders for 107 Airbus planes.

EasyJet said that it had always kept all options open to survive, as it cuts more than 2,000 UK jobs, and it strongly rejected any accusations of dishonesty.