Islington is the 13th branch of the Australian brand’s UK subsidiary, with Joe Beevis, UK general manager, saying London and the south-east would be the focus of expansion in the immediate future. 

Flight Centre was badly affected by the pandemic, saying in 2020 it would retain only a dozen of its 78 branches in England and Scotland, but is now expanding again. 

“We definitely have another two more openings,” Beevis said. “We’re looking to continue expanding London and the south-east, which was where we had the highest number of customers pre-Covid.”

Beevis declined to give a target for the number of new stores but ruled out a return to Flight Centre’s pre-Covid UK network. “We are not targeting getting back to 80 but we are definitely looking to grow in the right locations,” he said.

Beevis added Flight Centre would create about another 45 new jobs in the next 12 to 18 months. “We’ve always been committed to the UK leisure market and high street presence and the UK outbound leisure market is growing.

“We’re also introducing specialist teams focusing on luxury, round the world and SME business travel.”

Beevis said the brand had faith in bricks and mortar with consumers valuing agents’ recommendations, saying: “Post-Covid the feedback is they really value human contact. Online has grown but customers really value person to person.”
 
The new Islington store is led by Imogen Kerr, who started in Flight Centre Travel Group’s Fast Track graduate programme in 2024. The scheme aims to support progression from an entry-level role to senior management in 10 years. Kerr will lead a team of up to six agents.