[2] Bob Ayling, CEO of British Airways, approached EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou to ask whether they could meet, claiming that he was fascinated by how the Greek entrepreneur had made the budget airline formula work.

[3] In 1997, BA announced that, under the project name Operation Blue Sky, it would launch its own low-cost airline to meet the changing demand for air travel in Europe.

[5] Barbara Cassani, who had been British Airways' General Manager in New York and had been credited with turning around the airline's flagging fortunes in the transatlantic market in the early 1990s, was chosen by Ayling to set up the new venture.

The new airline would be run separately from British Airways as a wholly owned subsidiary, and would compete in the European low-cost carrier market, dominated by Ryanair and EasyJet.

[8] In July flights to Glasgow were started, then to Munich in November and Venice in December 1998, followed by Málaga, Faro, Bilbao in April 1999 and Madrid.

[8] To stem mounting losses, a significant change in strategy was announced in June 1999, cutting back on the existing schedules in favour of new routes tapping into the summer holiday market to Alicante, Ibiza and Palma de Mallorca.

[8] In 2001, Go expanded its UK operations, opening a second base at Bristol Airport, bringing low-cost travel to South West England for the first time.