Speaking on Wednesday (9 July) shortly after Jet2 revealed record annual profits, chief executive Steve Heapy revealed a project was under way to open up the brand to new market segments.
“We will be widening our customer base,” he said, adding Jet2 was “over-indexed” among older and more affluent consumers, and was already taking a high share of couples and families who holidayed regularly.
"We see a big opportunity in the less affluent and younger demographic,” Heapy continued. “We are working very hard to attract them through pricing, product enhancement and doing more through social media. It will reach more new customers and attract a higher rebooking rate.”
He stressed: “It does not necessarily mean lower profit. We’ve put tremendous effort into searching accommodation at lower star ratings. We’re adding, as we speak, more two- and three-star, and more self-catering. In cities, we have started to offer hostels – they are very good quality and provide a cheaper product.”
Heapy added the new focus “does not mean we’re not trying to grow other segments as well”.
Separately, Heapy gave strong hints Jet2 was considering returns to Egypt and Tunisia. “We are looking at lots of potential destinations,” he said. “We have served both in the past. They seem pretty stable, and Egypt seems pretty strong at the moment. We will see.”
He once again ruled out entering Gatwick “at the moment” following the relatively recent launches of its Luton, Bournemouth, Liverpool and Bristol bases. “We’ve launched four bases in the past two or three years," he said. "Gatwick is not on our radar at the moment, it’s very busy and very full."
