Easyjet founder calls for budget airline to list in the US

The founder of Easyjet has called for the budget airline to list on the US Nasdaq stock exchange in addition to in London.

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who set up Easyjet in 1994, said that an American listing could boost the firm’s value and bring its valuation closer to rival Ryanair, who has both an Irish and Nasdaq listing.

“Why would you object to a secondary listing on Nasdaq?” said Stelios Haji-Ioannou. “London hasn’t lost anything. You’re just attracting more shareholders from the States.”

“I often look at the value of Ryanair and wonder why it is higher than Easyjet,” he added.

Ryanair is currently valued by markets at £19.7bn, compared to Eastjet’s £4.3bn valuation. This makes the Irish airline worth over four times as much, despite serving only 1.5 times more routes.

The founder, who has previously fought the board over management decisions, called for a ‘ceasefire’ with them in 2022.

He lost control of his power to veto decisions made by the board the year before, but still holds a £650m stake in the company.

Haji-Ioannou added that the decision to pursue a secondary listing would ultimately be one for the airline’s management team.

His comments come after Tui moved to ditch the London Stock Exchange in favour of Germany.

The travel group joined the growing number of firms leaving the British bourse, with big players including Cambridge chip giant Arm and London-based commodities broker Marex heading to the US.

Gambling giant Flutter is also set to move its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange this year, after completing a secondary listing there last year.