Stelios Hadji-Ioannou to start budget African airline

Easyjet founder teams up with Lonrho to bring no-frills flying to AfricaSir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the colourful founder of easyJet, is preparing to launch a new low-cost airline in Africa.Haji-Ioannou, who started easyJet when he was just 28 in 1995, said the new venture would bring no-frills air travels to the "final frontier" of the cheap and cheerful aviation revolution he spearheaded.The Greek-Cypriot entrepreneur, whose family still owns 38% of easyJet, will take a 5% initial stake in Rubicon, a London-based investment vehicle planning to launch an airline under Haji-Ioannou's Fastjet brand. EasyGroup, Haji-Ioannou's empire of budget companies, will have the option to increase its stake to 10% and will earn a royalty fee for 10 years' use of the fastjet.com brand.The creation of Fastjet in September sparked speculation that Haji-Ioannou was planning to launch another no-frills European airline to rival easyJet, with which he has been embroiled in a bitter dispute. Easyjet operat