EasyJet may abandon Luton headquarters

EasyJet may abandon Luton headquarters:

Budget airline EasyJet is considering abandoning the orange shed at Luton airport that has become its spiritual home and moving its corporate headquarters to the Sir Norman Foster-designed Stansted airport.
EasyJet is expected to complete its £374m purchase of its Stansted-based rival Go within the next 10 days and executives are debating where to locate the merged group.

An EasyJet spokesman said no decision would be taken for another three months. “We might stay in Luton, we might go to Stansted.”

A crucial factor in EasyJet’s decision is likely to be the success of a regeneration grant application it has made to help fund a new corporate headquarters at Luton. Unless the funds are awarded, industry observers believe EasyJet could find the allure of Stansted too great.

The Stansted terminal, 40 miles east of Luton, is likely to see major expansion over the next 10-15 years.

It has fast rail links from London straight to the terminal building and is already the home to Europe’s biggest low-cost carrier, Ryanair.

EasyJet office staff moved into the orange shed by the runway at Luton airport when Stelios Haji-Ioannou launched the airline in 1995.

Whichever destination Easy Jet chooses, flights will almost certainly continue to operate from Luton because it signed a 20-year agreement last year to continue flying from there.

A spokeswoman for Luton airport said: “Obviously we would like EasyJet to remain at Luton but they’ve signed a 20-year agreement and we’re quite confident they see a future at Luton.”

By the time EasyJet decides on the location for its enlarged offices, an order for 120 aircraft, worth up to £4bn is likely to have been placed with either Boeing or Airbus.

Chief executive Ray Webster is understood to be talking to both manufacturers and is likely to make a decision by the end of next month.
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Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,1371,759578,00.html