Record Summer Marks Jet2.com’s Sixth Anniversary at Newcastle Airport

13th October 2011

• 500,000 passengers jet away this summer – 56 per cent more than in 2010
• Leading leisure airline becomes region’s largest flight operator with additional aircraft, new jobs, increased capacity and flights to five exciting new destinations
• Celebratory offer – 10 per cent off all winter flights

Six years after Jet2.com first took off from Newcastle Airport, the leading leisure airline is not only celebrating a record summer, carrying half a million passengers to popular city and sun destinations, but it has also fulfilled its ambitious growth plans to become the North East’s biggest leisure carrier.  

To mark this six year anniversary, Jet2.com has launched a special flights promotion, offering 10 per cent off all new winter flight bookings for a limited time. North East passengers looking to escape the winter blues simply have to enter promotional code WINTER10 at the time of booking for this exclusive discount.  And with flights starting from £21.99 one way including taxes, there’s no better time to get away from the cold and rain!

Since launching at Newcastle Airport, Jet2.com has helped over 2.1 million passengers jet away on holiday.  This year alone has seen strong growth for the airline, with a 56 per cent more passengers travelling this summer and flights taking off to five exciting new destinations – Alicante, Faro, Krakow, Prague and Toulouse – and the return of the popular Jet2holidays New York shopping breaks this December.

Due to overwhelming demand, Jet2.com has already extended its new Krakow route by three months, with the twice weekly service continuing until 2 January 2012.  It has also made 180,000 more seats available on its busiest routes; Malaga, Murcia and North East customers’ favourite summer destination – Majorca.  An extra Saturday service will also operate to Tenerife, starting next month.   

As a result of the airline’s expanding flight programme at Newcastle Airport, an additional Boeing 737 aircraft was added to the fleet earlier this year, making five based aircraft in total.  In addition, 47 new staff have been recruited to take Jet2.com’s airport passenger handling entirely in-house – boosting the total number of employees at the base to 182. 

Steve Heapy, Chief Commercial Officer of Jet2.com, said:  “When we launched at Newcastle Airport in 2005 our key aim was to offer North East passengers unrivalled choice and flexibility when it comes to their flights and holidays.  Six years on we are delighted to be celebrating both a record summer and becoming the region’s largest flight operator.  This year alone has been phenomenal.  Not only have we had our best season yet but we have further expanded our routes and services plus significantly boosted our team.  

 “Newcastle Airport is a key base for us and we want to continue rewarding our loyal North East customers by offering them the best possible experience.  Our generous 22kg baggage allowance, friendly flight times and allocated comfortable leather seats, combined with our myJet2 loyalty programme, certainly seem to be a winning formula.  We are very excited about the future and look forward to further building on our success, giving local passengers even more exciting new destinations to choose from.”

Chris Sanders, Aviation Development Director at Newcastle International Airport, said: “We congratulate Jet2.com on its sixth anniversary operating from Newcastle Airport. During this time, the airline has thoroughly made its mark in the region to become a firm favourite with our customers.  Jet2.com, which now flies to over 20 destinations from Newcastle, has invested heavily in the North East. It’s partnership with the Newcastle Collage onsite Aviation Academy has shown its commitment and we look forward to working to grow the airline and the number of destinations it offers from Newcastle.  For those keen on a winter getaway, we urge you book now to get the best deals.”

Jet2.com flies from Newcastle to 22 destinations with prices starting from £21.99 including taxes.  Avid North East skiers planning their winter snow escapes can take advantage of Jet2.com’s current free ski and snowboard carriage offer on flights until 24^th March 2012, worth £50 on return flights, by entering the code FREESKI when booking.