Airlines think ahead, very far ahead in some cases... The UK's popular holiday budget airline Jet2 has already released details of its winter schedule, but not this winter...next winter.
The company says that in winter 2019/20 it will operate to seven top ski destinations, Geneva, Grenoble, Salzburg, Turin, Lyon, Verona and Barcelona (for Andorra), giving skiers and snowboarders direct access to the French, Austrian, Swiss and Italian Alps as well as the Pyrenees.
Belfast International – Weekly Saturday services operating to Salzburg meaning over 4,000 ski seats on sale
Birmingham – Almost 50,000 ski seats on sale with services to Geneva (three per week), Grenoble (two per week), Salzburg (one per week) and Turin (one per week)
Edinburgh – Almost 20,000 seats available with weekly Saturday services to Geneva, Salzburg and Turin
East Midlands – Over 12,000 seats on sale thanks to weekly Saturday services to Geneva and Salzburg
Glasgow – one weekly Saturday service to Grenoble and two weekly flights to Andorra (Barcelona) means over 25,000 seats available
Leeds Bradford – the largest ski operator out of Yorkshire with 80,000 seats on sale. This includes up to seven services per week to Geneva, four to Andorra (Barcelona) as well as weekly services to Grenoble, Salzburg and Turin
London Stansted – over 60,000 ski seats on sale to a total of five ski destinations. This includes up to seven weekly services to Geneva, two weekly services to Turin, and weekly Saturday services to Grenoble, Salzburg and Lyon
Manchester – over 130,000 ski seats on sale to six ski destinations. Includes up to seven weekly flights to Geneva, four to Andorra (Barcelona), three to Grenoble and Turin, two to Salzburg and one to Lyon
Newcastle – one weekly Saturday service to Grenoble means over 6,000 seats available
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2 said: “This exciting programme means we have more seats on sale to the snow, with perfectly timed flights departing to seven fantastic ski destinations from across our nine UK bases. With more choice and flexibility, skiers and snowboarders can hit the slopes for a weekend, a short break or for longer, whilst flying with our award-winning airline and benefitting from 22kg of baggage and ski allowance.”
The holiday side of the company has also increased its Air Tour Operators Licence - ATOL with the UK's Civil Aviation Authority to allow it to carry nearly 4 million passengers in the 12 months to September 2019. This firmly puts Jet2holidays as the UK’s second largest tour operator, behind TUI and ahead of Thomas Cook. The following table shows the breakdown per quarter of how many passengers it is licenced to convey.
The company is also celebrating after Group Leisure & Travel Magazine recently awarded them Best Group Tour Operator - Short Haul in its recent award evening in Birmingham.
