Not mellow yellow, he’s orange through and through

Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s business card says he is a “serial entrepreneur.” It’s bright orange, like his airplanes, watches, cruise ship and men’s toiletries.

As the founder of EasyJet, one of Europe’s first and most successful budget airlines, as well as EasyWatch, Easy4Men, EasyCruise and about a dozen other fledgling Easy companies, Stelios -- who generally goes by first name only -- has his fingers in lots of orange pies.

He is the son of a self-made Cypriot oil tanker magnate and was educated at the London School of Economics. But he is more interested in creating companies to franchise or take public than in long-term company building and management. He especially likes to undercut the big corporations he calls “fat cats.”

In 1998, he sent an orange-suited brigade to hand out coupons for free EasyJet flights at the launch of Go, British Airways’ short-lived budget subsidiary. More recently, Stelios’ new EasyMobile ignited a full-blown price war among cellphone service providers in Britain.

Cellphones, watches and after-shave lotion notwithstanding, most of Stelios’ companies are travel-related, budget-minded start-ups. EasyJet, Bus, Car and Cruise rely on Internet booking, thus saving commissions to travel agents, and they keep costs down by deleting such frills as in-flight meals.

His market is wired, footloose twenty- and thirtysomethings, who seem to abound in Britain. Their interest in cruising, generally thought to attract an older crowd, at budget rates (beginning at about $100 per cabin a night, not including food and shipboard activities), will be put to the test when EasyCruiseOne, a newly refitted luxury liner, makes its maiden voyage next month on the French-Italian Riviera.

Stelios has a baby face that belies his almost 40 years and an anxious hand that incessantly taps against his pants pocket. I met him in central London, then rode with him by cab to his corporate headquarters in an old Camden Town piano factory.

No private office for him; instead, he sits in a pod with his employees poring over his e-mail. Here are his thoughts on his start-up.

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Question: Everything about your new cruise line is contrarian, from the non-inclusive pricing to the emphasis on ports, not days at sea. How did you come up with the idea?

Answer: Two years ago, I had to attend a marketing conference on a P&O; ship out of Southampton [England]. At night I was bored out of my mind and started analyzing the facilities. Then I decided to do more research and took a Roy- al Caribbean cruise out of Miami.

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Q: Boats are in your blood, I guess, given your shipping industry background. Do you have a yacht?

A: I own two and grew up on my father’s.

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Q: Why did you decide to start EasyCruise on the Mediterranean?

A: I could have gone to Florida, Spain or the Greek islands, but the Riviera is the most glamorous coastline in Europe. Besides, my family moved to Monaco in 1990, and I was looking for an excuse to spend more time there.

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Q: Do you still take business advice from your father?

A: He tends to be very conservative. And my mother thinks I shouldn’t ever start anything.

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Q: Does living in Monaco mean you’re a gambler?

A: I don’t have any interest in putting money on a roulette table. I just put $20 million on a cruise ship. When I go to Las Vegas, I stay at the Four Seasons, [which] doesn’t have a casino.

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Q: Do you fly first class?

A: I just flew to London from Singapore in Virgin Atlantic business class. But for a one-hour flight, I don’t need anything more than economy. I always fly Southwest between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

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Q: How do you assess the airline industry in America?

A: There are too many airlines. Especially since 9/11, the government has used Chapter 11 to keep airlines flying that shouldn’t be.

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Q: What makes you so competitive?

A: When other people pick on me. But I only fight the big boys. When they go after me, it’s a backhanded compliment. It means I’m hurting them. I’m a little worried that the cruise industry has been so friendly to me. It could mean they think I’m completely irrelevant.

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Q: You were born into money. Why do you feel compelled to make more instead of simply enjoying it?

A: At the beginning I was trying to prove something to my father. But I needed to do something he couldn’t help with, except financially. Now it has to do with the desire to be liked. People stop into the office and thank me. Every year I make a difference in a few hundred thousand holidays.

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Q: Did you see “The Aviator”?

A: Yes, it reminded me that the difference between madness and genius is success. If you take a big risk and succeed, you’re a genius. If you fail, you’re mad. But you have to take a risk.

Susan Spano also writes “Postcards From Paris,” which can be read at latimes.com/susanspano.