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. Jet2 is also officially the largest tour operator in the UK after overtaking TUI in 2023. Its headquarters are located at Leeds Bradford Airport. Further bases are at Belfast–International, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London–Stansted, Manchester and Newcastle airports, with a base opening at Liverpool In March 2024. 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===
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.
=== 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.
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 have continued annually and now run from five of its UK bases.
In 2010, the airline announced an eighth base at Glasgow Airport would be opened in April 2011, with an initial nine routes. 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.
On 17 September 2016, the airline received its first brand new Boeing 737–800 of the order for thirty made in 2015. 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.
=== 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. 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. 
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.
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. 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.
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. 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. 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. 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.
== Corporate affairs ==
===Head office===
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. In September 2014, the airline opened a new £9.5 million training academy at Euroway Industrial Estate in Bradford. 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)
* Chief Executive: Steve Heapy (since January 2013)
* Managing Director: Phil Ward (since January 2005)
* Business Development Director: Ian Doubtfire (since February 2003)
==== List of former chief executives ====
# Philip Meeson (2003–2013)
=== 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% 	100.3%
2005 	2,376,900 	24,151 	74.5% 	96.3%
2006 	2,831,922 	26,808 	77.2% 	19.1%
2007 	3,860,266 	34,358 	73.6% 	36.3%
2008 	3,454,578 	27,851 	79.4% 	10.5%
2009 	3,089,340 	24,282 	81.6% 	10.6%
2010 	3,338,921 	24,708 	86.3% 	8.1%
2011 	4,235,752 	29,806 	87.3% 	26.9%
2012 	4,776,257 	32,520 	89.0% 	12.8%
2013 	5,515,021 	36,064 	89.8% 	15.5%
2014 	6,007,549 	39,362 	89.0% 	8.9%
2015 	5,853,447 	36,657 	91.3% 	2.6%
2016 	6,721,129 	41,796 	90.8% 	14.8%
2017 	9,695,445 	58,541 	90.6% 	30.7%
2018 	12,170,681 	70,963 	91.4% 	25.5%
2019 	14,393,162 	82,931 	90.9% 	18.3%
2020 	2,851,455 	20,287 	74.8% 	80.2%
2021 	3,168,738 	27,879 	62.9% 	11.1%
2022 	15,533,430 	92,062 	87.8% 	390.2%
2023 	17,321,108 	100,817 	88.9% 	11.5%
Source: United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority	Source: United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority	Source: United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority	Source: United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority	Source: United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority
==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, as well as, overseas bases at Alicante–Elche Airport, Palma de Mallorca Airport and Tenerife South Airport. 
 Biggest bases of Jet2.com (September 2023)
Rank	Airport 	IATA	Destinations
1. 	Manchester 	MAN 	68
2. 	Birmingham 	BHX 	66
3. 	Leeds/Bradford 	LBA 	55
4. 	London–Stansted 	STN 	53
5. 	Newcastle upon Tyne 	NCL 	47
6. 	Bristol 	BRS 	42
7. 	Edinburgh 	EDI 	41
8. 	East Midlands 	EMA 	38
9. 	Glasgow 	GLA 	33
10. 	Belfast–International	BFS 	25
==Fleet==
===Current fleet===
, the Jet2.com fleet consists of the following aircraft: Search term "JET2.COM" or "Dart Group" as the AOC Holder
 Jet2.com fleet
Aircraft 	In service	Orders 	Passengers	Notes
Airbus A320neo	— 	35 	180 	Firm order with 36 options.
 	3 	—	220 	
Airbus A321neo	5 	70 	232 	
Boeing 737-300	7 	—	148 	
Boeing 737-800	91 	1 	189 	
Boeing 757-200	6 	—	235 	To be retired and replaced with Airbus A321neo.
Total 	112 	106 	 	
====Short-term seasonal leasing====
In addition to the above fleet, Jet2.com commonly damp-leases additional aircraft to support its operations during busy periods. 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.
===Fleet development===
In October 2021, Jet2.com announced that they had placed an order with Airbus to purchase multiple Airbus A321neo aircraft. In July 2022, Jet2.com further announced that they had expanded their order with Airbus, ordering a total of 60 A321neo aircraft. In October 2022, Jet2.com announced an additional order for 35 Airbus A320neo aircraft.
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.
===Historic fleet===
The table shows a list of Jet2's historic fleet, many of which are leased aircraft previously used by the company.
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 	 	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
 	1 	2007 	2007 	
== References ==
==External links==
*Jet2.com website
*Jet2holidays website
*Jet2charters website
Category:Airlines of the United Kingdom
Category:British Air Transport Association
Category:European Low Fares Airline Association
Category:Airlines for Europe
Category:Airlines established in 2002
Category:Low-cost carriers
Category:Companies based in Leeds
Category:British brands
Category:British companies established in 2002