Jet2.com

Jet2.com
IATA ICAO Callsign
LS[1] EXS CHANNEX
Founded1983; 41 years ago (1983) (as Channel Express)
Commenced operations1983; 41 years ago (1983) (as Channel Express)
12 February 2003; 21 years ago (12 February 2003) (as Jet2.com)
AOC #598
Operating bases
SubsidiariesJet2holidays
Fleet size112[2]
Destinations80[3]
Parent companyJet2 plc
Headquarters
Key people
Employees14,500+
Websitewww.jet2.com

Jet2.com Limited is a British low-cost leisure airline offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom. As of 2022, it is the third-largest scheduled airline in the UK, behind easyJet and British Airways.[5] Jet2 is also officially the largest tour operator in the UK after overtaking TUI in 2023.[6] Its headquarters are located at Leeds Bradford Airport.[7] Further bases are at Belfast–International, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London–Stansted, Manchester and Newcastle airports, with a base at Bournemouth starting in April 2025. The company holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. Jet2 also offers a charter service through its Jet2charters brand.

History

Origins

Jet2.com Limited is a subsidiary of Jet2 plc, an aviation services group. The airline began operating commercial aircraft in 1983 under the name Channel Express, when it was purchased by the Dart Group's current Executive Chairman, Philip Meeson. Initially a freight operator, from 2001 the airline also began operating passenger charter services using Boeing aircraft to international destinations on mainly short and medium-haul routes.

Formative years

A Jet2.com Boeing 737-300 in the former livery in 2011.

In 2002, Channel Express established the Jet2.com brand from Leeds Bradford International Airport. The re-branded Jet2.com began operating as a leisure airline with its first flight from Leeds Bradford to Amsterdam on 12 February 2003, which operated a twice-daily rotation with two Boeing 737–300 aircraft. During 2003, further scheduled flights were launched to seven European sun and city break destinations.

In 2004, a second base was opened at Manchester Airport with the airline operating from Terminal 1. The airline also acquired further Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft and opened a base at Belfast International Airport. In 2005, Jet2.com opened a third base at Newcastle upon Tyne. Later in the year, the company acquired two Boeing 757–200 aircraft, enabling it to fly medium-long haul destinations as well as carrying more passengers on popular existing routes. These aircraft helped the company to open two more bases at Blackpool and Edinburgh. In 2006, the company relocated from Bournemouth to Leeds and was renamed Jet2.com Limited.[8]

Expansion

In November 2008, Jet2.com changed its slogan from "The North's Low Cost Airline" to "Friendly Low Fares". This preceded the announcement of opening a hub at East Midlands Airport, the first of the airline's hubs outside the North of England and Scotland. The base at East Midlands Airport opened in May 2010.[9]

During November and December 2008 the airline operated four direct flights from Leeds Bradford to Newark Liberty International Airport using Boeing 757-200s, with a series of flights also planned from both Leeds Bradford and Newcastle during December 2010. Once again, Jet2.com re-introduced seasonal Christmas flights to New York during the 2012 winter season, however, this time flights would operate from Glasgow, East Midlands and Newcastle, in addition to Leeds. The seasonal flights to New York continued annually until 2019 and ran from five of its UK bases.[10] As an effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, the airline cancelled their seasonal trips and they have not returned as of 2024. It is possible that they will not return as the airline are slowly retireing their Boeing 757 Aircraft, which were formerly used to run the trips and the Airbus A321neo aircraft replacing the Boeing 757s do not have enough reasonable range to cover the trips.

In 2010, the airline announced an eighth base at Glasgow Airport would be opened in April 2011, with an initial nine routes.[11] The base was opened on 31 March, slightly earlier than scheduled. In January 2011, the airline introduced second-hand Boeing 737–800 aircraft into its fleet. This provided aircraft larger than its existing 737-300s yet smaller than its 757-200 aircraft.

Jet2.com carried over 600,000 passengers in its first year of operation and over nine million passengers during 2017; its highest recorded total.[12]

On 17 September 2016, the airline received its first brand new Boeing 737–800 of the order for thirty made in 2015.[13] In November 2016, Jet2.com opened its new maintenance hangar at Manchester Airport. In December 2016, Jet2.com announced that it had ordered a further four Boeing 737–800 aircraft, bringing the total on order to 34.[citation needed]

Recent years

In 2019, Jet2.com received delivery of its 34th new Boeing 737–800 aircraft, taking its permanent and leased fleet size to more than 100 aircraft.[14] Also in 2019, Jet2.com carried a record 14.39 million passengers on 82,931 flights. This was an increase of over 18% over the year before. [citation needed]

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on aviation, Jet2.com announced they were suspending flight operations until at least 15 July 2020. The airline continued to operate repatriation flights for British citizens overseas. On 17 August 2020, Jet2 announced via BALPA, that they would be laying off 102 pilots from various UK bases, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[15]

On 11 November 2020, Jet2.com and Jet2holidays announced that they would open their tenth United Kingdom base at Bristol Airport on 1 July 2021, operating to 33 destinations.

In September 2021, Jet2.com announced an order for 36 Airbus A321neo aircraft, plus 24 options, totalling purchasing power for 60 planes.[citation needed] Although Jet2 has operated a small number of Airbus jets on lease to cope with summer demand, this is Airbus' first direct order from Jet2, and a shift away from the company's traditionally all-Boeing fleet.[citation needed]

Jet2.com celebrated its 20th birthday on 12 February 2023. On the same date it was revealed that Jet2holidays had become the UK's largest tour operator with an ATOL license to carry 5.8m passengers, surpassing TUI's 5.3m.[6] On 16 May 2023, Jet2 announced they were opening their 11th United Kingdom base at Liverpool John Lennon Airport. In June 2023, Jet2 have announced an expansion to their 2024 summer season, with some destinations being made available from earlier months, and extra capacity for other destinations. This is to meet customer and travel agent demands.[16] This includes additional services to Spain, Turkey, Italy and Greece destinations across all of their bases. In July 2023, Jet2 announced that its Chairman Philip Meeson was stepping down.[17] Robin Terrell took over as Chairman in September 2023. Robin joined Jet2 as a non-executive director in April 2020. Meeson has now moved to the position of founder and advisor to the board.[18]

On 26 March 2024, Jet2.com announced they would open their twelfth United Kingdom base at Bournemouth Airport on 1 April 2025, operating to 16 destinations.[19]

On 28 March 2024, Jet2 launched its first flight from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Tenerife, marking the start of its new services to 20 different holiday destinations with plans for further expansion in summer 2025.[20]

Corporate affairs

Head office

Low Fare Finder House, the head office of Jet2.com at Leeds Bradford International Airport.
Leeds skyline with Holiday House in the foreground which houses the commercial office for Jet2 plc.

Jet2.com's Registered office, Low Fare Finder House, is located on the grounds of Leeds Bradford International Airport. Construction of the facility broke ground in 2006, in order to accommodate pilots, cabin crew, and back of house operations. In April 2013, Jet2.com moved its Customer Contact, Finance, IT, Human Resources, Commercial and Marketing departments to a new office, "Holiday House", located within the city centre of Leeds.[21] In September 2014, the airline opened a new £9.5 million training academy at Euroway Industrial Estate in Bradford.[22] In addition to the training centre located in Bradford, Jet2.com announced in February 2023 that they'd opened a new £8.5 million training centre in Cheadle. Both training centres will operate in parallel.

Senior leadership

  • Non-Executive Chairman: Robin Terrell (since September 2023)[18]
  • Chief Executive: Steve Heapy (since January 2013)[23]
  • Managing Director: Phil Ward (since January 2005)[24]
  • Business Development Director: Ian Doubtfire (since February 2003)[24]

List of former chief executives

  1. Philip Meeson (2003–2013)[23]

Subsidiaries

In 2007, sister company Jet2holidays was launched offering package holidays. In 2011, Jet2 launched their new brand, indulgent escapes, providing some more luxurious getaways. On 29 April 2015, sister company Jet2CityBreaks was launched. In June 2017, Jet2.com launched Jet2Villas through its Jet2holidays brand.

Ownership

Jet2.com is wholly owned by Jet2 plc (formerly Dart Group PLC), a holding company based in Leeds, England.

Statistics

Year Total passengers Total flights Load factor Passenger change (YoY)
2003 604,563 5,543 78.9% –
2004 1,211,139 11,266 79.1% Increase100.3%
2005 2,376,900 24,151 74.5% Increase096.3%
2006 2,831,922 26,808 77.2% Increase019.1%
2007 3,860,266 34,358 73.6% Increase036.3%
2008 3,454,578 27,851 79.4% Decrease010.5%
2009 3,089,340 24,282 81.6% Decrease010.6%
2010 3,338,921 24,708 86.3% Increase008.1%
2011 4,235,752 29,806 87.3% Increase026.9%
2012 4,776,257 32,520 89.0% Increase012.8%
2013 5,515,021 36,064 89.8% Increase015.5%
2014 6,007,549 39,362 89.0% Increase008.9%
2015 5,853,447 36,657 91.3% Decrease002.6%
2016 6,721,129 41,796 90.8% Increase014.8%
2017 9,695,445 58,541 90.6% Increase030.7%
2018 12,170,681 70,963 91.4% Increase025.5%
2019 14,393,162 82,931 90.9% Increase018.3%
2020 2,851,455 20,287 74.8% Decrease 80.2%
2021 3,168,738 27,879 62.9% Increase 11.1%
2022 15,533,430 92,062 87.8% Increase390.2%
2023 17,321,108 100,817 88.9% Increase 11.5%
Source: United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority[25]

Destinations

Jet2.com operates flights to 70 destinations in Europe, with a focus on Spain, the Mediterranean Sea, France, Greece, Italy and Turkey. Its main base is at Leeds Bradford Airport with nine additional operating bases across the United Kingdom with an eleventh base of Liverpool John Lennon Airport to commence operations in 2024, and a twelfth base in Bournemouth Airport from April 2025,[26] as well as, overseas bases at Alicante–Elche Airport, Palma de Mallorca Airport (seasonal) and Tenerife South Airport.[27]

Biggest bases of Jet2.com (September 2023)
Rank Airport IATA Destinations
1. United Kingdom Manchester MAN 68
2. United Kingdom Birmingham BHX 66
3. United Kingdom Leeds/Bradford LBA 55
4. United Kingdom London–Stansted STN 53
5. United Kingdom Newcastle upon Tyne NCL 47
6. United Kingdom Bristol BRS 42
7. United Kingdom Edinburgh EDI 41
8. United Kingdom East Midlands EMA 38
9. United Kingdom Glasgow GLA 33
10. United Kingdom Belfast–International BFS 25

Fleet

Current fleet

As of March 2024, the Jet2.com fleet consists of the following aircraft:[28][2]

Jet2.com fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A320neo — 35[29] 180 Firm order with 36 options.[30]
Airbus A321-200 5 — 220
Airbus A321neo 7 68[29][31][32] 232
Airbus A330-200 1 1 327 Leased by AirTanker during Summer.
Boeing 737-300 7 — 148 To be retired by the Airbus A320neo during 2030s.
Boeing 737-800 98 1[2] 189
Boeing 757-200 6 — 235 To be retired and replaced with Airbus A321neo.[citation needed]
Total 124 105

Short-term seasonal leasing

In addition to the above fleet, Jet2.com commonly damp-leases additional aircraft to support its operations during busy periods.[2] For summer 2023, this included Airbus A321s from Titan Airways and Hi Fly, Airbus A330s from AirTanker Services and World2Fly Portugal along with Boeing 737s from AirExplore and Smartwings.[2]

Fleet development

In October 2021, Jet2.com announced that they had placed an order with Airbus to purchase multiple Airbus A321neo aircraft.[33] In July 2022, Jet2.com further announced that they had expanded their order with Airbus, ordering a total of 60 A321neo aircraft.[34] In October 2022, Jet2.com announced an additional order for 35 Airbus A320neo aircraft.[35] These aircraft are intended to increase fleet size and replace existing Boeing 757 and Boeing 737-300 aircraft, both of which are slowly being retired.[36]

In 2024, Jet2 will retrofit 50 Boeing 737-800s with Split-Scimitar Winglets, making the aircraft more fuel efficient. These will include the 34 Boeing 737s that Jet2 took delivery new between 2016-2019.[citation needed]

Historic fleet

The table shows a list of Jet2's historic fleet, many of which are leased aircraft previously used by the company.[37]

Aircraft Total Year Introduced Year Retired Notes
Airbus A320-200 3 2013 2019 Leased from SmartLynx Airlines Estonia and Titan Airways
Airbus A321-200 6 2019 Un­known Leased from SmartLynx Airlines and Titan Airways
Boeing 737-200 1 2007 2007 Leased from European Air Charter
Boeing 737–300/QC 9 2005 2020 Operated both passenger and Cargo flights- option to remove aircraft seats to operate cargo flights on behalf of Royal Mail
Boeing 737-400 2 2005 2007 Leased from Futura and Íslandsflug[38]
British Aerospace 146–300 1 2007 2007

References

  1. ^ "IATA – Airline and Airport Code Search". iata.org. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Jet2 Fleet and History Details". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Jet2 on ch-aviation". ch-aviation. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Terms & Conditions - Jet2.com". jet2.com.
  5. ^ "All Scheduled Services 2018 – Civil Aviation Authority (2019)" (PDF). CAA.co.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  6. ^ a b "ATOL reports | Civil Aviation Authority". www.caa.co.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 3 April 2007. pp. 97–98.
  8. ^ "Companies House – English Company 02739537". Wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  9. ^ "BBC – New airline routes promise jobs". BBC News. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  10. ^ "Jet2 announce Newcastle to New York flights to return for winter 2020". 24 October 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  11. ^ "Jet2.com gets hypnotic with Derren Brown". Archived from the original on 16 September 2010. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  12. ^ "Airline data annual reports 2017 | UK Civil Aviation Authority". www.caa.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  13. ^ "Jet2 takes delivery of new aircraft as part of East Mids Airport expansion plans". Derbyshire Times. Johnston Publishing Ltd. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  14. ^ "Jet2.com celebrates delivery of 100th aircraft". Travel Weekly. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  15. ^ "Jet2 is making over 100 pilots redundant at its UK bases". The Independent. 17 August 2020. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  16. ^ Mal, Nisha (16 June 2023). "Jet2 releases summer flights to Turkey, Spain, Italy, Greece destinations". BristolLive. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  17. ^ Lea, Robert (7 July 2023). "Jet2 boss Philip Meeson to step aside after return of package holidays nets £371m". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  18. ^ a b "Jet2 names successor to founder and executive chair Philip Meeson". TTG. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  19. ^ Calder, Simon (26 March 2024). "Bournemouth airport set for 2025 fares war as Jet2 moves in". The Independent. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Jet2 launches first flight from Liverpool John Lennon Airport". BBC News. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Yorkshire Post – 200 jobs in pipeline as Jet2 moves to new office". Yorkshire Post Newspapers. 11 April 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  22. ^ "Telegraph & Argus – New £9 million airline training base opens in Bradford". Telegraph & Argus. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  23. ^ a b "Steve Heapy promoted to chief executive of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays". Travel Weekly. 3 January 2013.
  24. ^ a b "JET2.COM LIMITED people – Find and update company information – GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  25. ^ "UK Airline Data". UK Civil Aviation Authority. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  26. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-68663396
  27. ^ "Jet2 opens operational base at Tenerife South". ch-aviation.com. 22 November 2019.
  28. ^ "GINFO Search". Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved 2 March 2024. Search term "JET2.COM" or "Dart Group" as the AOC Holder
  29. ^ a b "Jet2.com increases order for the A320neo Family to 98". airbus.com. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  30. ^ "UK's Jet2 orders 35+36 A320neo". Ch-Aviation. 18 October 2022.
  31. ^ "Jet2 stockt Airbus-A321neo-Großbestellung weiter auf". 18 July 2022.
  32. ^ "UK's Jet2 converts 12 options for A321neo". ch-aviation.com. 24 November 2023.
  33. ^ "Aircraft Order".
  34. ^ "UK's Jet2 bumps A321neo order to 60".
  35. ^ "Jet2 Orders 35 Airbus A320neo Aircraft".
  36. ^ "Aircraft Order". otp.tools.investis.com. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  37. ^ "Jet2 Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  38. ^ "BOEING 737–400 – Penial Air". www.penialair.com. Retrieved 12 July 2023.

External links

Media related to Jet2.com at Wikimedia Commons

  • Jet2.com website
  • Jet2holidays website
  • Jet2charters website
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