Jet2 targets growth at Gatwick as it celebrates first flight from airport

Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy is already targeting further growth at Gatwick after waving off the carrier’s inaugural flight from the airport.

 

The airline and tour operator marked its highly anticipated arrival at the airport with a 9.55am service to Tenerife this morning (March 26), followed by a 10.35am flight to Alicante, both of which were fully booked.

 

The airline is basing six aircraft including five new Airbus A321neo at the airport, operating to 29 destinations, with a seventh to join for summer 2027 which will take its network to 34.

 

But Jet2.com and Jet2holidays chief Steve Heapy stressed there is scope and desire to expand beyond the initial operation, which will create more than 300 local jobs and see an additional 79 weekly flights depart from the London airport.

 

More: Jet2 expands Greek island offering with new summer 2027 destination

 

“We don’t want to stop here; we’ve got ambitions to grow further,” he told Travel Weekly. “If capacity becomes available at the airport, we’d love to take it and put more flights on. If you look at some of our other bases, we’ve got more aircraft there.”

 

Jet2 has invested about £10 million in the Gatwick launch and Heapy anticipates it will take two or three years before the new base delivers profit.

 

“Year one at Gatwick will cost us money; it’s an investment,” he said. “It will probably follow a similar profile to our other bases.”

 

Jet2’s Gatwick launch takes the carrier’s network of UK bases to 14 and Heapy said the company will now enter a “period of consolidation” before it considers a fifteenth.

 

“We launched Luton and Bournemouth last year and we’re going to put some effort into growing those operations; there’s a bit of work to do in terms of timings and capacity,” he said.

 

Heapy hailed a “phenomenal” response to Gatwick from both consumers and the trade as he emphasised the airline’s close relationship with agents.

 

“For flights in the rest of March I think we’ve got one seat left, so there’s certainly been a good response. I hope people continue to book in the numbers they have been,” he said, adding: “We’ve got good relationships with key travel agents and we’re very pleased with the bookings we’re getting through them. 

 

“I’m very grateful for the support they’re giving us.”

 

The proportion of trade sales for Gatwick flights compared with direct sales so far is “roughly in line” with Jet2’s other UK bases, equating to about 25% of overall sales, said Heapy.

 

Gatwick chief commercial officer Jonathan Pollard said he is “confident this is just the start of a massive programme for Jet2 [at Gatwick] over the coming years”.

 

“If you look at every airport they [Jet2] have gone into in the UK, they start at a certain level and then grow beyond,” he said.

 

“We’ll certainly be working hard with them, like we would with any airline, and we hope that they grow further. We’ve continued to invest in improving the throughput of the airfield and we’ll continue to do so.

 

“We’re really excited about what the future holds.”