Who is the founder of the British low-cost airline easyJet?

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou (born 14 February 1967) is a Greek-Cypriot entrepreneur. Born into a wealthy ship-owning family, he is best known for founding the low-cost airline easyJet and the Stelmar shipping line with start-up funds provided by his father, Loucas. easyJet's foundation in 1995 marked the beginning of a series of ventures marketed under the "easy" brand, managed by easyGroup and chaired by Haji-Ioannou.

Haji-Ioannou started easyJet in 1995 when he was 28 years old, running a service between Luton and Scotland. In 2000, easyJet PLC was partially floated on the London Stock Exchange. He and his family remain its largest single shareholders (34%) in the airline, capitalised at £4.17bn as of 9 May 2019.

Haji-Ioannou conducts business via his private investment vehicle, the easyGroup, which owns the 'easy' brand and licenses it to the various 'easy'-branded ventures, including the airline. Haji-Ioannou continues to extend his business interests, mainly in the field of travel and leisure by encouraging entrepreneurs to adopt the "easy" brand for their companies. In the 2006 Birthday Honours, Haji-Ioannou received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for "services to entrepreneurship".

easyJet operates domestic and international scheduled services on over 1,000 routes in more than 30 countries via its affiliate airlines easyJet UK, easyJet Switzerland, and easyJet Europe.