Jet2holidays

Jet2holidays
Company typeSubsidiary
Private Limited company
IndustryHospitality, tourism
Founded2007
HeadquartersLeeds, England, United Kingdom
Area served
Europe, Turkey, Morocco
Key people
Philip Meeson (Executive Chairman)
Steve Heapy (CEO)
ProductsPackage holidays
Brands
  • Jet2CityBreaks
  • Jet2Villas
  • Indulgent Escapes
  • On Tour
  • Vibe
ParentJet2 plc
Websitewww.jet2holidays.com

Jet2holidays is a British package holiday provider and tour operator. It was formed in 2007 as a subsidiary of Dart Group plc (now renamed Jet2 plc), and a sister to Jet2.com, the third-largest scheduled airline in the UK.[1] As of 2023 Jet2holidays is the largest tour operator in the United Kingdom, by ATOL licenses in 2023.[2][3][4]

History

Jet2holidays was founded in June 2007. Upon launch, Jet2holidays provided package holidays from Jet2.com’s six bases in Leeds, Manchester, Belfast, Newcastle, Blackpool and Edinburgh. It began operations at East Midlands Airport in May 2010[5] and announced an expansion to Glasgow Airport later that year.[6] In 2014, Blackpool Airport closed, taking the company back down to seven bases.[7]

By March 2015, Jet2holidays was providing package holidays to one million customers per year.[8] The following month, it created Jet2CityBreaks, a subsidiary specialising in shorter holidays to its city destinations.[9]

In April 2017, Jet2holidays became available from nine bases after the company announced an expansion to Birmingham Airport and London Stansted Airport. On 7 June 2017, Jet2holidays launched Jet2Villas, expanding its portfolio of self-catered package holidays.[10] Later that month, it celebrated ten years of operation, and had sold over seven million package holidays.[11]

In October 2017, when Monarch Airlines ceased operations, Jet2.com and Jet2holidays added over 650,000 seats from former Monarch airports, leading to Jet2holidays overtaking Thomas Cook Tour Operations to become the second-largest tour operator in the UK.[2][3]

In February 2023, Jet2holidays added an extra 500,000 to its operating license making it the largest tour operator in the UK. This now means it overtakes TUI UK as it will carry 5.8 million passengers in 2023.[4]

Operations

Jet2 Boeing 737-800 in the Jet2 Holidays Livery

Jet2holidays offers ABTA and ATOL-protected package holidays that comprise accommodation, transfers, baggage and return Jet2.com flights to 55 destinations, focusing on the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Morocco.

Jet2Villas provides self-catering villas and apartments across Jet2holidays destinations on a similar basis, while Jet2CityBreaks provides ABTA and ATOL-protected holidays with accommodation, baggage and flights to 37 destinations.

Jet2holidays sells its products through both its website and independent travel agents. In 2010, TUI Group and Thomas Cook offered Jet2holidays deals through their own travel agent networks.[12] As Jet2holidays grew to become the third-largest tour operator in the UK, both competitors ended these arrangements in 2017.[13][14]

By January 2019, Jet2holidays was partnered with 1,000 travel agents, which were accountable for 25% of its overall bookings.[15]

Awards

  • 2018, 2019: Best Short Haul Operator, Travel Weekly Globe Travel Awards.[16][17]
  • 2018, 2019: Gold Trusted Service Award, Feefo Trusted Service Awards.[18][19]
  • 2018: Travel Brand of the Year, Which? Awards.[20]
  • 2017: highest-performing tourism organisation, Institute of Customer Service UK Customer Satisfaction Index[21]

Fraudulent illness claims

In November 2018, Jet2holidays successfully defended itself against four holidaymakers who falsely claimed to suffer gastric illness on a holiday in Benidorm. All four were given a three-month prison sentence suspended for two years, and fines of £750 each.[22] In December 2018, Jet2holidays fought a false compensation claim from two holidaymakers who travelled to Marmaris, Turkey, which resulted in the couple being forced to pay the company £30,000 in damages.[23]

References

  1. ^ "All Scheduled Services 2017 - Civil Aviation Authority (2017)" (PDF). CAA.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b Ireland, Ben (11 October 2017). "Jet2holidays now second biggest UK operator ahead of Thomas Cook". Travel Weekly. London. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  3. ^ a b Noakes, Gary (11 October 2017). "Jet2holidays overtakes Thomas Cook to become the second largest operator". TTG. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  4. ^ a b Huxley, Lucy (13 February 2023). "Jet2holidays overtakes Tui as UK's largest operator". Travel Weekly. London. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  5. ^ "New airline routes promise jobs". BBC News. London. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Jet2 to create 150 jobs at Glasgow Airport". BBC News. London. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Blackpool Airport Announcement". Jet2.com. Leeds. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  8. ^ "Jet2 to create 150 jobs at Glasgow Airport". Manchester Evening News. Manchester. 31 March 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Jet2holidays Revamps City Breaks Offering". Jet2.com. Leeds. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Jet2Villas launches!". Dart Group PLC. Leeds. 7 June 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  11. ^ "Jet2holidays celebrates 10 years". Jet2.com. Leeds. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  12. ^ "Tui shops to sell Jet2holidays". Travel Weekly. London. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  13. ^ Morris, Jennifer (18 January 2017). "'Business as usual' at Jet2holidays despite Tui ending commercial deal". TTG. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Thomas Cook stops selling Jet2holidays". Travel Mole. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  15. ^ Ballard, Sam (2 January 2019). "Thomas Cook stops selling Jet2holidays". ABTA Magazine. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  16. ^ "Globe Travel Awards: Winners revealed". Travel Weekly. London. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  17. ^ "Globe Travel Awards 2019: Full list of winners". Travel Weekly. London. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  18. ^ "Jet2holidays Awarded Gold Trusted Service Award by Feefo". NI Travel News. Belfast. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  19. ^ "Customers give gold to Jet2.com and Jet2holidays". Business First Online. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  20. ^ Barrow, Jon (23 May 2018). "Which? Awards 2018: winners revealed". Travel Weekly. London. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  21. ^ Davies, Phil (22 March 2018). "Jet2holidays tops tourism sector ranking for customer satisfaction". Travel Weekly. London. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  22. ^ Thomas, Joe (2 November 2018). "Family's £45k Benidorm holiday sickness scam busted by Facebook posts". liverpoolecho. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  23. ^ Sandhu, Nathan (18 December 2018). "Jet2 holidaymakers' fake illness claim exposed as CCTV shows one dancing by pool". The Mirror. London. Retrieved 20 April 2019.