Chief executive Steve Heapy told TTG on Tuesday (26 March) the south coast airport filled a gap for the airline and operator that was now closed.
"If you look at our route network, a gap is certainly the south coast – we have Bristol in the south-west and Stansted in the east and there is a big catchment [around Bournemouth]."
Jet2 names Bournemouth as 12th UK base
Bournemouth airport’s owner, Regional and City Airports, also owns Exeter and Norwich airports, but Heapy said they were not under consideration.
“We have no plans for any more bases,” he confirmed. Asked if he would nevertheless consider operating from Gatwick, he replied: “No.”
Heapy said Jet2 would instead concentrate on developing Bournemouth, which will have 150,000 outbound passengers, and its other new base Liverpool, which he said would be “pretty much double that” when it opens on Thursday (28 March).
Jet2’s ambition is to double in size in the next three to four years and it has 146 Airbus aircraft on order. Heapy said six Airbus A321s had now been delivered, which carry more passengers than the aircraft they replace.
The new orders will partly replace retired aircraft and partly grow the Jet2 network, Heapy confirmed. “There is more capacity going into other bases," he contined. "It’s not just about Liverpool and Bournemouth. It’s quite an exciting time.”
‘Encouraging demand’
At Bournemouth, there is overlap with Ryanair and Tui, with Ryanair offering eight routes to Spain among 20 destinations. However, Heapy said: “If you look at demand for flights and holidays, there is room for extra capacity on some of these routes."
He added he was keen to meet agents in the Bournemouth catchment area. “There are a lot of agents here that are very keen to work with us and we look forward to continuing to work with Hays Travel.”
On current trading, Heapy acknowledged summer 2024 prices had risen but blamed inflationary pressures. “We live in inflationary times, we’ve seen prices increase throughout the supply mechanism, taxes and energy costs are higher, payroll costs have increased overseas and in the UK. Unfortunately, that comes through in the final price.”
Despite this, he described demand for summer 2024 as "OK". "[It’s] pretty much where we expect it to be. We have an early Easter this year, so the profile is a little different. We’re pretty encouraged by what we have seen.”
Heapy added consumers were valuing their holidays more than they did pre-Covid. “What Covid did was reinforce how important holidays are. They are good for mental health. Sales of lottery tickets and takeaway meals are down, but spend on holidays is pretty much stable.”
