Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has backed down from his demand to appoint two of his own nominees to the easyJet‘s board of directors.

The easyJet founder and main shareholder has been involved in a public feud with his fellow directors over the growth strategy of the airline amid a deepening recession.In November he increased his voting control from 15.6 to 26.9 per cent by taking over the voting rights to his sister’s stake in the company. This gave him the right to appoint at least one and possibly two more directors in addition to himself - although he is still in a legal dispute as to whether he can nominate a chairman and one director or a chairman and two directors.

He also set out his concerns over accounting policies adopted by the rest of the board, which he argued did not reflect the “current commercial realities and the macro-economic climate”. He also voiced his disagreement with the management’s takeover of GB Airways and the valuation of aircraft and slots at Gatwick airport accompanying the deal.

But the notice for next month’s annual shareholders meeting contains no nominations for new directors. Sir Stelios has removed this demand, after also quickly removing his initial threat to have himself reinstated as chairman replacing Sir Colin Chandler.
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