Ahead of him lies a busy day of meetings, interviews, and appointments.

On top of that are plans to launch new ventures in the shape of easy.com, an online price comparator, and Easymoney.com, providing online financial services.

"The jury is still out on some of the new companies but Easyjet has come of age," Mr Haji-Ioannou says.

"On the whole it has been a year with some companies maturing and with some promising start-ups.

"The Easy companies have been groomed to be public companies from day one. We have a board of directors, non-executive directors, and independent people.

" We run them like public companies even though they are private.

"I think we'll have no problem facing the City," he says optimistically.

It is 9.00pm, and back in London, Mr Haji-Ioannou arrives at the Natural History Museum for yet another engagement - this time at the Internet Company of the Year awards.

Fourteen hours after he got up, the enthusiasm and smile are still intact. But one would expect nothing else from a man whose personality is so crucial to the brand he invented.