Jet2.com and Jet2holidays will focus on growth at its current 13 airport bases rather than looking to open at new locations across the country.
Steve Heapy, chief executive of the sister brands, outlined his expansion strategy while he was at Luton airport (pictured) to see the first flights depart from the company’s 13th base.
“This is it for some time. We have got a lot to do now,” he told a Travel Weekly webcast.
“Liverpool is in its second year of operation…Bournemouth started a couple of months ago…we have just started at Luton airport.
“We have got a bit of nurturing to do for our younger bases, while keeping our other 10 bases growing as well.”
The new Luton base will offer up to 36 flights a week to 17 destinations in Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Italy.
Heapy said it had been opened in response to demand from holidaymakers and agents: “They wanted us to expand our footprint and offer flights and holidays from here.
“So far, the sales are going well, and we had very full flights going this morning.
“If you look at our other bases, we’ve got a history of growing pretty quickly, and we very much hope to be able to do that here at Luton as well. There’s certainly the demand.”
He said sales from Luton have gone well so far, noting: “We did go on sale quite late, because we only announced it about five months ago, and the other bases had 17 months to sell.
“We have had to work a little harder to fill the routes, because we have pretty much a year less to sell them.
“But given the time we had, we think they’ve gone very well.
“Hopefully, it’s the start of a long and successful story here at Luton. We are filling the aircraft.”
Asked if the company planned to offer long-haul services in the future, he commented: “Predictably I’m going to say: never say never.
“We have got a lot to do in our current sphere of operation.
“We have got 135 aircraft this summer. They’ll be flying to lots of places around the Mediterranean and North Africa.
“We have got a lot of customers to keep happy and a lot of bases to manage.”
He said sales for destinations were “pretty consistent across the board” with “no real standout performers or under-performers”.
“But people seem to be a bit more adventurous now and wanting to get around the Mediterranean; they want to tick off destinations and try different places, and that’s great,” he added.