EasyJet marked the 30th anniversary of its first ever operation on 10th November, with a celebratory flight on the same Luton to Glasgow route, staffed entirely by crew whose 30th birthdays also fall this November. The flight was also joined by retired Captain Fred Rivett, who flew that first-ever easyJet service, flight EZY121. A flurry of positive data on easyJet’s economic impact accompanied the milestone, while critics have pointed to the advent of affordable flying as an emissions disaster.
On 10th November 1995, just as the UK and Europe’s aviation market was deregulating to allow a broader range of routes and fares, easyJet launched with a radical mission to “make our fares affordable to everyone while making air travel convenient and fun,” in the words of founder, chairman and chief executive, Stelios Haji-loannou. In the three decades since, easyJet has gone from being a start-up with one borrowed aircraft and one base at the UK’s Luton Airport to being one of Europe’s biggest low-cost carriers and the UK’s largest, with 356 aircraft, more than 1200 routes, and 19,000 staff.
In an anniversary press release, the carrier’s CEO Kenton Jarvis points to the benefits its operations have brought “not just for the UK economy, jobs, and skills but for our society as a whole. The UK is now better connected than ever, and flying is more affordable than it was 30 years ago. In short, this is the easyJet effect.” Its figures claim to show that easyJet has facilitated £21 billion (around €24 billion) gross value added (GVA) and 243,600 jobs for the UK economy, equivalent to £300 (over €340) in GVA for every UK resident.”
What’s more, the airline says, consumers recognise the difference easyJet has made. Connectivity between the UK and Europe has grown 61% since 1995, with 987 more unique airline routes. A survey of 2,000 British adults conducted by 3Gem in October 2025 found that 96% “agree that easyJet has made air travel more accessible to more people over the past three decades with low fares and choice of destinations.”
And those “low fares” are, easyJet says, lower than ever, beating the inflation that has affected other goods. The airline’s first tickets between Luton and Glasgow were marketed as cheaper than the cost of a pair of jeans, at just £29, when other carriers were charging £100 or more. In real terms, today the same flight would cost £58, but today’s price is £26, a difference of -55%. In fact, easyJet lists a suite of flights that cost less today relatively than they did at its launch. The trip whose value has improved the most is Luton to Barcelona, for which the lowest-price ticket has dropped 72%. Meanwhile, the price of a pair of jeans has increased in real terms by 57%, a pint of lager has gone up 39%, and average UK house prices have risen 154%.
However, critics note that the aviation sector expansion easyJet claims to have been a driving force in, has caused millions of tonnes of additional carbon emissions. The green campaign group Transport & Environment said in 2024 that easyJet is the fifth most polluting airline in Europe and that its emissions had gone up six percent year-on-year.
At that point, easyJet was two years into its net-zero roadmap, which intends to use carbon reductions and carbon removal to reach zero additional carbon by 2050. But corporate advertising watchdog Ad-free Cities also complained in 2024 to the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority that easyJet’s plan, as promoted, is misleading, as it is based on reducing emissions per passenger, not reducing absolute emissions.
