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Philip Meeson: ‘We are confident in the resilience of our leisure travel business in the long term’


Jet2 boosted payments to agents by £8m in 2016-17


Jet2.com has reported substantial growth – and agents are reaping the benefits. Ian Taylor reports


Jet2.com and Jet2holidays increased year-on-year commission payments to agents by 21% – more than £8 million – in the 12 months to March.


The rise in agency payments to £37.5 million a year was revealed in the annual results of Jet2 parent company Dart Group, which were published last week. Agents ought to see a further substantial rise in the 12 months to March 2018 as Jet2.com has added considerable capacity – increasing its fleet from 65 to 73


72 travelweekly.co.uk 20 July 2017


aircraft for this summer – and plans a comparable increase in package holiday sales. The company dismissed fears of


a downturn in outbound holiday demand despite the “unsettling” effect of Brexit, saying: “We believe the government recognises the importance of aviation, and European countries appreciate the value British tourists bring.” Dart Group reported an annual


pre-tax profit of £90 million, down 14% on last year, despite a 23% increase in revenue to almost


£1.73 billion. Almost £1.6 billion of that turnover came from airline Jet2.com and Jet2holidays. The company attributed the


drop in profits to “considerable investment” in Jet2’s new operating bases at Birmingham and Stansted, and to a £10.9 million loss on foreign exchange following the sharp fall in the value of sterling in the second half of last year. It conceded Jet2 had been forced


to discount prices in the latter half of 2016 to hit growth targets after adding capacity, reporting: “Strong demand and resilient pricing for the summer 2016 season gave way to heavier price discounting in the second half of the year, to


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