Sales executive Bryony Boulter, who previously covered Jet2’s Stansted and south east catchment, will relocate to Gloucester, Jet2holidays head of trade sales Alan Cross told TTG.

"It’s an area she knows well and used to cover for a number of years," said Cross. "She’s going to be dedicated to agents in that area. She really knows that neck of the woods."

Jet2.com and Jet2holidays announced on Wednesday (11 November) it would be basing three aircraft at Bristol next year, operating up to 56 flights a week over the summer to 29 destinations.

The base is Jet2’s tenth; flights are due to start on 1 April 2021. It will operate year-round, with a winter 2021/22 programme planned offering three weekly ski services, as well as a weekly Paphos flight.

Cross said starting Wednesday, his trade team would hit the phones to introduce the brand to around 300 independent agents identified as being within a 45-minute to an hour catchment of the airport.

"We’re going to be giving them links to training and an introduction to Jet2holidays, they will receive that day one," said Cross. "And we will be doing dedicated training sessions for them.

"This will be a beginners’ guide to introduce them to us and how we work, and to talk them through the steps to get them up and running."

Cross said Jet2holidays had, in the early stages of the pandemic, transitioned its Partners 2 Success programme to a virtual setup, offering virtual agency visits, key account meetings, and knowledge and training sessions – all of which would be available to new and prospective partners in the West Country.

"We’re doing everything we would normally do, just not face-to-face because," said Cross. "Let’s not kid ourselves, we’re not going to be walking through the door of agents for quite some considerable time.

"But between Zoom and Microsoft Teams, we can introduce ourselves and do everything we did normally."

Cross added the trade team would make its marketing toolkit available to agents in the south west, which includes posters, social media and email assets, and manager’s specials.

"We’re ready to work them as best we can within the limitations of this pandemic," said Cross, who added that Jet2 was also working on other ways to engage the trade, including what he described as a potentially "quite revolutionary" proposal involving agents, prospective clients and Jet2.