UK tour operator Jet2 -the third largest registered airline in the UK- announced on Tuesday a major expansion to its program in Greece for summer 2022 that includes the launch of flights and city break package holidays to Athens for the very first time.
Jet2 runs leisure flights through Jet2.com and package holidays through its tour operator Jet2holidays.
The company’s expansion in Greece includes over half a million extra seats on sale to Greece compared to summer 2019 – a capacity increase of 86%.
As a result of this growth, the tour operator has over 1.1 million seats on sale from the United Kingdom to Greece in Summer 22.
Speaking during a media briefing in Athens, Jet2.com and Jet2holidays’ CEO Steve Heapy referred to this summer as “a milestone moment” for the company in Greece.
Flights to Athens
“With international travel returning to normality, we are looking forward to our biggest and busiest ever summer in Greece, including the launch of flights and city breaks to Athens,” Heapy said.
Jet2.com this summer will operate four weekly services between Athens and the airports of Birmingham and Manchester from April 14. Two flights per week will run from each base on Thursdays and Sundays. It is noted that Jet2.com will be the only carrier to offer a direct service to Athens from Birmingham.
Heapy noted that for summer 2023 Jet2.com will be adding a third flight from Manchester and possibly Birmingham while the company is also looking into the addition of flights to the Greek capital from other UK airports.
Also, for summer 2023 Jet2 is looking to offer packages for the Argosaronic islands from Athens.
Eight new routes between UK and Greece
Including the two new routes to Athens, Jet2.com and Jet2holidays will operate a total of eight new routes between the UK and Greece this year, with the other new routes including: Edinburgh to Skiathos, Santorini, Preveza and Halkidiki; Bristol to Halkidiki; and Glasgow to Kos.
“We are growing exponentially and really putting down our marker as the UK’s leading airline and tour operator to Greece,” he added.
Jet2.com and Jet2holidays’ expanded programme will see the company operate flights from ten UK bases to 15 gateways in Greece (Athens, Corfu, Chania, Heraklion, Kefalonia, Thessaloniki, Kos, Kalamata, Lesvos, Mykonos, Preveza, Rhodes, Skiathos, Santorini and Zante).
In total, Jet2holidays will operate to almost 175 resorts across 20 Greek destinations this summer, with 270 weekly services operating during peak periods. With regard to accommodation, Jet2holidays has more than 1,100 hotels (two- to five-star) and 400 villas on sale in Greece this summer.
“We are looking forward to a fantastic summer and beyond as Greece continues to be right at the heart of our ongoing growth and success strategy,” Heapy said, adding that Jet2 would like to extend operations beyond the summer period and potentially include winter services.
Moreover, he highlighted that a critical part of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays’ success in Greece is the “fantastic partnerships” maintained with airports, hoteliers and the Greek government.
“As well as bringing more holidaymakers to Greece and creating more jobs through our expanded team of award-winning customer helpers, we will of course be flying more people from Greece to the UK too,” he added.
On his part, Athens International Airport CEO Yiannis Paraschis welcomed Jet2.com’s growth in the Athens market. He highlighted the relationship with Jet2.com and Jet2holidays as an example of Athens Airport continuing to see more traffic as travel bounces back following the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The UK being one of our most important markets, Jet2.com’s new services to Manchester and Birmingham will meet the increased demand and offer more value-for-money options to the travelling public,”
Paraschis said.
