EZAir (Bonaire) is to rebrand for fear of legal action from easyGroup Holdings over trademark infringement, report Aruba.nu and Luchtvaartnieuws. The holding owns the easyJet (London Luton) and other "easy" trademarks.

EZAir Chief Executive Officer René Winkel said the regional airline based in Curaçao recently received a letter of demand from easyGroup, accusing it of infringing on its intellectual property rights and instructing it to immediately stop selling tickets to Colombia to British, European, and American passengers.

"Needless to say, we are not in agreement with easyJet's position. However, we are a relatively small regional carrier. We cannot afford to engage in a lengthy legal battle with a very well-capitalised group while the outcome of that battle is uncertain," Winkel explained.

He said EZAir is in the process of selecting a new trade name to resolve the issue. "Although the legal entity, the organisation, and flight operations of the airline remain entirely the same, the rebranding will also involve the launch of a new website with the new name," he said. "Over the years, we have established a strong position on our routes through a good product and comfortable aircraft. None of that will change, and we are confident about this rebranding," Winkel added.

ch-aviation has approached easyGroup for comment.

In 2021, easyGroup settled an infringement lawsuit filed in 2020 against EasyFly (Colombia) (Bogotá) in the Florida District Court in Miami. easyGroup initially took legal action against Easyfly in Colombia before losing a case against the Colombian carrier at the High Court of Justice in London.

easyGroup has a history of litigation against companies it believes are cashing in on versions of its family of brand names. easyGroup reportedly spends GBP1 million pounds (USD1.2 million) a year pursuing "brand thieves" trying to piggyback off its brand in any way. This includes recent legal action against the music band Easy Life, accusing them of infringing on the rights of online retailer Easylife, which licenses its name from easyGroup. It has also taken legal action against Honduran airline EasySky (EKY, Tegucigalpa) and its Mexican owner Global Air, having already grounded India's Easyair (Chennai), and Bangladesh-based cargo carrier Easy Fly Express (EFX, Dhaka). Air China ran the gauntlet using "Easy Way" to describe its Beijing Daxing International-Frankfurt International service. easyGroup has also sued a French businessman behind the Easyroommate brand and the owner of the Easyairpark parking lot in Greece.

The easyGroup itself has branched out into 55 versions of the brand name, including easyCar, easyHotel, easyTrain, easyMoney, easyEmail, easyTaxi, and even easyCoffee.