Fastjet: Stelios Launches Rival To EasyJet

The move has reignited conflcit between Sir Stelios and easyJet which had eased after the low-cost airline returned £190m to shareholders last week that will net his family £71m.

After the announcement of the dividend, Sir Stelios dropped a request for an extraordinary shareholder meeting to force non-executive Professor Rigas Doganis off the board.

However, today EasyJet said it had received notice from Sir Stelios of his plans for Fastjet and said it was ready to act should rights established under previous agreements between him and the airline be infringed.

Sir Stellios has set up a website, www.Fastjet.com, which has this notice: "Festjet,.com by Stelios. Coming soon."

EasyJet said in a statement that Sir Stelios alleged that the airline has breached the terms of a binding comfort letter of October 10, 2010, and that that letter is no longer in force - claims which easyJet "emphatically rejects".
 
Under the agreement, easyJet said Stelios had agreed not to use his own name or a derivation of it to brand any other airline within Europe for five years.

Sir Stelios alleged in a statement that he: "Strongly believes that the directors of easyJet, via a smear campaign conducted by off the record briefings to journalists, have repeatedly breached the clause below, so he has terminated the effect of the letter for repudiatory breach and has rejected all payments offered under this letter since May 2011."

His family owns about 38pc of easyJet.

Shares in easyJet ended up 1 at 352.6p. Telegraph