The family of the founder of British airline EasyJet sold a small stake in the company, a regulatory filing showed on Thursday, reducing the Haji-Ioannou family's holding to 25.3 per cent from 26.7 per cent, report agencies.
Stelios Haji-Ioannou founded EasyJet in 1995, and along with family members remains its biggest shareholder, although their holding has reduced from around 34 per cent last year due to a share sale and after a placing by the airline.
During the pandemic, Haji-Ioannou criticised EasyJet's strategy, calling on it to scrap a large order for new Airbus jets.
Shares in easyJet traded at 989 pence on Thursday morning. They remain well below their pre-pandemic level of around 1,500 pence, but they have risen 19 per cent in the year to date on hopes for a recovery in air travel.
Meanwhile, EasyJet has announced a new travel testing service with provider Collinson.
The latter will provide access to a range of tests for international travel from the United Kingdom, making it easier and more affordable for customers to prepare to fly this summer.
With the return of international leisure travel from the UK, EasyJet customers will be able to access Collinson tests at discounted prices.
Discounted tests start from £32 for a Lateral Flow Antigen, £66 for PCR and £68 for LAMP tests.
All the tests are conducted by trained medical practitioners and are approved for current mandatory testing.
For in-destination testing prior to returning to the United Kingdom, Collinson has launched a pre-return video testing solution.
