easyBus in £3 million expansion order
posted: July 7, 2006

easyBus, the low cost airport to central London bus service founded by Stelios the serial entrepreneur, is set for major expansion with a fleet order worth up to £3 million. The new vehicles will be used to start services between UK airports and the centre of their respective cities, following the development of the high frequency service between Luton Airport and Baker Street in central London. The easyGroup is now in negotiations with all vehicle manufacturers in order to procure the most suitable type of buses which will be in the range of the current 17 seater minibuses up to 32 seater so called 'midibuses'. Depending on the type of vehicle chosen the order could amount to up to 50 vehicles, with delivery commencing in January 2007.

easyBus has been in operation for almost two years (first service 19 August 2004) with a fleet of 10 Mercedes minibuses offering transport to and from central London for as little as £2. The company has so far transported more than 200,000 passengers and is currently profitable as a business. The time is now right, therefore, to grow the business.

During the pilot phase of the business, easyBus had two routes into London from Luton Airport and Milton Keynes, both operated by contractors. The contractor operating the Milton Keynes route declined to continue the service after a year of operation and easyBus switched the entire fleet onto the more popular Luton Airport to central London route in response to consumer demand for a higher frequency service. Currently easyBus offers 90 departures a day between Luton Airport and central London.

The order of new vehicles will be used to start additional routes between London airports and the centre of town as well as between other regional airports and the centre of their respective towns. These new routes will also be operated by contractors, with easyBus continuing as the brand and the website which remains the principal sales channel encouraging consumers to book online and in advance in order to get the best prices and availability. The new vehicles will also be used to replace the existing fleet to ensure that easyBus can continue to offer a high frequency, punctual service to customers.

"Tens of millions of passengers a year are flying into the UK at low prices only to find that the rip-off train prices from those UK airports to their own city centres are costing about the same again," said Stelios the serial entrepreneur. "easyBus will continue to make sure that consumers get a good low cost service on the ground as well," he concluded.