London: EasyJet Plc, Europe's second-biggest low-cost airline, agreed to buy 15 Airbus SAS A320 planes with a list price of $1.1 billion (Dh4 billion) as Chief Executive Officer Carolyn McCall switches strategy to lure more business travellers.
EasyJet won a "substantial" discount on the jetliners for delivery from 2012 to 2014 and secured options for a further 33 of the same type, the British company said yesterday in a statement. It also converted orders for 20 smaller Airbus A319s into A320s. McCall, CEO since July, said in November she'll begin offering flexible tickets to help appeal to corporate flyers.
A higher proportion of bigger planes could maximise capacity at busier airports, and No. 1 investor Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who opposed the growth strategy of EasyJet's previous chief, said he's keen to see details of the deployment plan for the fleet.
EasyJet rose as much as 3.1 per cent and was trading 2.6 per cent higher at 451.6 pence, or 2.8 per cent, as of 12.34pm in London, boosting the company's market value to £1.94 billion (Dh11 billion).
