A fresh round of extra capacity is being laid on for early summer by Jet2 and Jet2holidays in response to increased consumer confidence and heightened demand.
Additional flights will serve the Canary Islands, Turkey, mainland Spain and the Portuguese Algarve gateway of Faro.
Capacity has been raised from Belfast International, Edinburgh, East Midlands, Glasgow and Newcastle airports, timed for the early May bank holiday, spring bank holiday and Platinum Jubilee holiday in June.
The expansion is the latest in a series of recent capacity hikes from the UK’s second largest tour operator since travel restrictions started to be eased at the beginning of the year. Capacity for this summer had already outstripped availability in pre-pandemic 2019.
Recent polling by the company has shown that customer confidence is at its highest point since the onset of Covid-19.
Demand has been boosted even further in recent weeks, following the removal of the passenger location form and testing for unvaccinated customers.
Data revealed that 70% of respondents feel confident about booking and travelling on holiday.
The increased confidence is continuing to translate into strong demand with summer 2022 being one of the most popular times to take an overseas holiday.
Chief executive Steve Heapy said: “After the removal of all travel restrictions, international travel is looking like it did before the pandemic.
“This return to normal has led to customer confidence bouncing back strongly, with holidaymakers jumping at the chance to get away.
“As such, we are seeing enormous growth for all seasons, with summer ‘22 proving to be one of the most popular times for a holiday.
“In response to that, we have added additional capacity to a range of sunshine destinations, providing customers and independent travel agents with even more choice and flexibility.
“We are pleased to be offering a huge programme for summer ‘22, with capacity being bigger than it was in summer ‘19, and we are now expanding this even further.”