Jet2.com Celebrates First Year of Flying from Glasgow Airport

28th March 2012

• Leading leisure airline celebrates first year of flying from Glasgow Airport
• Inaugural flights jet off to three new Spanish hotspots, with prices from £31.99 per person
• 40,000 additional seats on key routes and capacity set to double over next year

28 March 2012 – Jet2.com is getting into fiesta spirit to celebrate its first anniversary of flying from Glasgow Airport, and the launch of the eagerly anticipated inaugural flights to three exciting new Spanish hotspots, which will jet off later this week.

In addition to great sun destinations, Jet2.com also flies to exciting cities.  On Friday 16^th March the airline’s first flight to Rome jetted off with Six Nations fans on board. On Thursday (29^th March) flights commence to the fabulous city by the sea, Barcelona. For sun lovers there are new flights to Lanzarote from Thursday, and from Friday flights to the ever popular Malaga. These inaugural Spanish services mark the start of a wave of first flights to exciting new destinations from Glasgow, with flights to Ibiza and the Greek islands of Crete and Rhodes all taking off this May.

It has been a very successful first year for the leading leisure airline at Glasgow Airport.  The past twelve months have seen it double its destinations to 16 and carry over 250,000 passengers to popular leisure destinations.  It also increased the frequency of its flights to the European hotspots of Dalaman, Faro and Tenerife, adding 40,000 more seats to these popular destinations to meet customer demand – a 17 per cent increase on 2011.

Jet2.com has a programme of inbound marketing and promotion, generating awareness and encouraging overseas visitors into Glasgow. In the coming weeks Jet2.com will be holding press conferences in the new destinations of Barcelona and Rome, in collaboration withVisit Scotland and Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, to inform the Spanish and Italian media of the many reasons to visit Glasgow and West of Scotland. In June a group of Italian journalists will fly in to experience the city and the highlights of the area, to inspire their readers to visit Scotland. This activity will continue to swell the many inbound visitors Jet2.com is bringing to Glasgow which provides increasing revenue to the local economy. Over 1000 Italian visitors are already booked with Jet2.com for this summer.

The success looks set to continue, as Jet2.com today announced plans to further increase capacity in the next year.  This Easter will also see the 60 new Glasgow based recruits joining the vibrant and expanding company and the arrival of the eagerly anticipated third aircraft.

Ian Doubtfire, Managing Director of Jet2.com, commented:  “We are really pleased with our first year at Glasgow Airport and what better way to celebrate, than with our inaugural flights jetting off to the popular Spanish destinations of Barcelona, Malaga and Lanzarote.  It is a growing base and together with our flights from Edinburgh we are able to offer a wide range of destinations for Jet2.com and Jet2holidays.

“It’s a very exciting time for us at the airport.  Our third aircraft arrives on Friday and our 60 new staff can’t wait to get started and give our customers the friendly service they have come to expect.  We are dedicated to further growing our operations at Glasgow Airport, giving holidaymakers an unrivalled choice of popular European hotspots at great value prices, direct from their local airport.”

Amanda McMillan, Managing Director at Glasgow Airport, said: “Since arriving at Glasgow Airport in March 2011, Jet2.com has more than doubled its route network and has established itself as a firm favourite among passengers.

“The airline’s decision to add three new Spanish routes including Barcelona, which is a new destination for Glasgow, is yet another example of Jet2.com responding to passenger demand and all three will undoubtedly prove popular. I would like to congratulate the team at Jet2.com on a tremendous first year at Glasgow Airport and wish the airline continued success.”

Visit Scotland’s Head of International Marketing, Denise Hill, said: “Barcelona is the single biggest market when it comes to Spanish travellers flying outbound to the rest of Europe, so the new Jet2.com flight into Glasgow presents fantastic opportunities both for building citybreak tourism as well as providing a gateway for lucrative longer stay touring holidays throughout Scotland.  The low-fares, direct-access message we are working together with Jet2.com to promote is certain to stimulate further growth from the Spanish market”.

Scott Taylor, Chief Executive of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said: “Jet2.com has enjoyed an extremely successful year since the airline started flying from Glasgow. They have more than doubled their route network to 16 destinations over the past 12 months, which has provided a welcome boost for the city in terms of driving in-bound tourism.

“The commencement of new Spanish routes to Lanzarote, Malaga and, in particular, Barcelona presents us with even greater opportunities to attract visitors and promote Glasgow as a short break destination in Spain. It also demonstrates the continued importance of the city’s Air Route Development activity.

“Spain currently represents the fifth largest international market for Glasgow with 44,000 trips made annually to the city by Spanish visitors who generate £23 million in local economic benefit. We will be working closely with Jet2.com and Glasgow Airport to implement joint marketing communications activity, which will maximise growth opportunities from this key market.

“I would like to congratulate the team at Jet2.com for its commitment to Glasgow over the past year and wish the airline continued success for the future.”

Sister company, Jet2holidays has also had a successful first year with scores of leisure travellers choosing to book a break from the package holiday experts.  

Ian added: “The sunshine hot spots of Majorca, Tenerife, Alicante and Portugal have been favourites with our holiday customers and our new destination, Lanzarote, is also proving a very popular addition. Interestingly, we’re seeing a distinct increase in all inclusive bookings from Glasgow – 178 per cent up on last year – showing families are still keen to getaway together whilst keeping a keen eye on their finances.”

Glasgow sun seekers can jet off to Lanzarote with weekly flights costing from £53.99 per person, including taxes.  Holiday packages from sister company, Jet2holidays, are also available from £249 per person. Three flights per week to Barcelona and Malaga start from a wallet-friendly £31.99 per person including taxes, with city and sunshine breaks starting from just £259.

In addition to Jet2.com’s inaugural Spanish flights and the first flight to Rome taking off this month, Jet2holidays has also announced the return of its hugely successful New York Christmas Shopping Break.  Package trips are available for £699 per person, including direct return flight, 10kg hand baggage and three-star hotel accommodation.

For more information or to book a flight please visit www.Jet2.com or for great value package holidays visit www.Jet2holidays.com