EasyJet adds to fleet in face of Stelios's scepticism

The carrier said it had ordered 15 Airbus A320 aircraft for delivery by 2014 in a deal worth $1.1bn (pounds 700m), although easyJet will have spent less than the top-line number because it secured an undisclosed discount. EasyJet added that it had taken out options to buy a further 33 A320s.

EasyJet's fleet will reach 204 this year - a symbolic number for Haji-Ioannou. The easyGroup tycoon, whose family controls 38% of easyJet's shares, warned last November that the company should only acquire more than 200 aircraft if it had identified routes that would produce annual profits of pounds 2m per aircraft.

Haji-Ioannou, who has publicly traded blows with easyJet management over the past two years, gave the announcement a cautious reception yesterday. Reminding the chief executive, Carolyn McCall, that easyJet should achieve analysts' forecasts of at least pounds 250m in post-tax profits by 2013 - against pounds 121m currently - Haji-Ioannou said he was still seeking route plans for the new aircraft.

"We shall see if these 15 incremental aircraft will find deployment on profitable new routes and earn the appropriate return on capital employed. I am still hoping to get greater transparency on which routes these and any other new aircraft are to be deployed," he said.

However, Haji-Ioannou's call for greater transparency was criticised by some market-watchers. Andrew Lobbenberg, analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland, said easyJet could damage its business if it met its shareholder's demand to reveal route plans for the new aircraft.

"We believe this is an inappropriate question; the network management plan is a living, changing plan, which should take advantage of industry developments. Communicating route plans publicly, significantly in advance of launch, would be commercially disadvantageous," said Lobbenberg, adding: "Overall, his announcement is a reminder that he is out there and is not a straightforward major shareholder."

EasyJet added another frisson to the expansion debate with its founder by announcing that it had converted orders for 20 A319 aircraft, which carry about 156 passengers, to deals for slightly larger A320 aircraft, which carry 180 passengers. Analysts said the larger aircraft were the most profitable option for congested airports and for holiday routes.

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou said he wanted to see the route plans for

the 15 Airbus

A320s that the

airline has ordered