Around 750,000 more passengers are expected to fly out of Stansted Airport next year after a package holiday airline officially launched its first UK base in the south of England.
Jet2.com and Jet2holidays is well known in the Midlands and the North but, from next March, it will be carving out a niche in East Anglia and the South as six new aircraft arrive at the Essex airport.
These will create more than 250 jobs, and the firm’s presence is expected to have knock-on effects for the local economy.
The leisure specialist, which operates from eight other airports, will be flying out to 21 destinations and offering up 800,000 seats when it begins flights in March.
These include Lanzarote, Malaga, Alicante, Dubrovnik, Madeira, Crete, Ibiza, Kos, Gran Canaria, Menorca, Paphos, Majorca and Tenerife.
As it officially launched the flights last week, it was joined by The Only Way is Essex star Mark Wright.
Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy said their family-friendly ethos had proved a successful formula in northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland and was “confident” the formula would work in the East of England.
Andrew Cowan, chief executive of London Stansted Airport said it was “delighted” the operator had chosen Stansted for its ninth UK base.
“The announcement is a real vote of confidence in Stansted and we look forward to building a strong working relationship with Jet2 to ensure this exciting new partnership is an overwhelming success,” he added.
Jet2 commercial director Steve Lee said the airport had been “very supportive”, and the interest generated at the launch yesterday was “extraordinary”.
“We just saw there was a strong demand for the type of product we have to offer,” he said.
Contrary to some opinion, holidaymakers increasingly wanted to go on package holidays, he added.
“I think the safety and security of the package holiday is really important to them,” he said.
“People go on about ‘staycations’ but a lot of this is hype.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here