The founder and chairman of British budget airline easyJet, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, said he would step down from his post on November 26 instead of in early 2003 as announced in April.
He said that the airline's takeover of rival Go had been completed and the integration process was well under way, led by easyJet chief executive Ray Webster.
'In order to achieve a better delineation of accountability for the following financial year and, rather selfishly, in order to free up my time for my newer ventures, I have decided to formally step down and leave the Board on November 26, 2002, the day the company expects to announce its full-year results for financial year 2002,' he said in a statement.
'Everything I hear leads me to be confident that full-year results to September 2002 will be in line with market expectations,' he added.
Haji-Ioannou will be succeeded by Colin Chandler, former chairman of Vickers Defence Systems, a subsidiary of the aviation group Rolls-Royce.
