Chief Executive Officer, Jet2
Travel Weekly Sustainability Summit: Jet2's Steve Heapy
Jet2's Steve Heapy told the Travel Weekly Sustainability Summit that the public thinks airlines are nine times more carbon emitting ...
About Steve Heapy
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2Holidays, has been active in expanding the company's operations, including the launch of a new base at London Luton Airport in April 2025, which he described as the company's 13th base. Heapy stated that Jet2 has a history of growing quickly at its bases and expressed hope to do the same at Luton. He also discussed the company's financial performance, noting that Jet2 had increased its ATOL license to 5.85 million customers, making it the UK's largest tour operator, a position he attributed to the company's focus on being "the best" rather than "the biggest." Heapy has been a vocal critic of government taxation and sustainability policies. He argued that the UK government's Emissions Trading Scheme raised approximately £450 million but said the funds should be "ring fenced and used specifically for green or decarbonizing projects." He warned that rising taxes on aviation would price lower-income consumers out of flying, stating that "flying will become the preserve of the rich and privileged." During the COVID-19 pandemic, Heapy expressed frustration with government travel restrictions, describing the removal of Portugal from the green list as "devastated, angry, confused" and calling for more decisive action. He has also emphasized the importance of cash reserves and financial robustness, advising against gambling on a strong late-season market and urging the industry to build long-term businesses capable of weathering disruptions.
Transcript (14 segments)
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Interviewer0:00
So I'm here with Steve Heapy, who is the CEO of Jet2 and Jet2 Holidays. We were actually talking yesterday in Turkey at your conference, and we started to talk about your presentation you gave on sustainability, and you very kindly came here to our summit today where you've gone into a lot of detail for us. One of the things you were talking about is how unfairly the aviation industry is taxed given the contribution it makes actually to the overall global CO2 emissions. Just tell us a little bit about that, just to...
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Steve Heapy0:29
Remind... Well, there was a survey done where people were asked what percentage of CO2 emissions do you think the airline industry is responsible for. The answer was 22%. The real answer is 2.4%. Therefore, the public thinks that airlines are nine times more damaging than they actually are. Yeah, and that's obviously not good, and we're doing what we can as an industry to reduce our carbon footprint, and we at Jet2 are doing all we can.
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Interviewer0:57
Remind us some of the initiatives you've...
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Steve Heapy0:59
Been doing? Well, we've ordered up to 146 brand new aircraft. How much was that? Gross transaction value $18.1 billion. So staggering. Yeah, that's quite an investment in a greener future. They carry more customers and use 20% less fuel. They're half as noisy as our old generation aircraft. So you know, we're doing what we can, but at the end of the day, I'm not a scientist, I'm not a jet engine designer or a new technology designer. We're dependent on technological advances, and they're not there yet. So it's a bit like saying you've got to have electric cars by 2030. Oh, hang on a minute, there's no way to charge it. So you know, the issue around the fuels, the new sort of more sustainable aviation fuels that they would like you to use, but they're just not available in the quantities that the industry needs. No, they're not. No. And there's a consultation to look at a mechanism for pricing, and that needs to be complete to give fuel companies the confidence to invest in fuel plants in the UK. They're investing in them in Europe, but without this facility in place, they're quite reluctant to invest in the UK. So therefore, there's a risk that the SAF won't be available in the UK in time to help us to achieve. You'll be asked to use it to a certain level, it won't be available, so you'll have to use jet fuel, and then you'll have to pay a premium on it. It's the same... Well, we'll have two choices, well three choices actually. First of all, we find this up in UK and use it, that's probably unlikely. Secondly, we use jet fuel but we have to pay the SAF price, which is considerably more expensive, and pay a carbon charge on top. Or thirdly, tanker the SAF in on a ship, which again, not great. Yeah, so we need this consultation to finish as soon as possible so we can understand what the roadmap is.
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Interviewer2:55
Yeah, the other thing I know you're angry about is that you know if we have to pay more tax, you wouldn't mind so much if it was ring-fenced for green projects, but you don't believe at the moment the money that you're having to pay is actually going back into sort of...
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Steve Heapy3:09
Of environmental issues. Yeah, the ETS, emissions trading scheme. I think the UK government raised about 450 million in the last 12 months from this, but in our opinion, it needs to be ring-fenced and used specifically for green or decarbonizing projects. That's what we think. You know, if you charge a tax to try and change behavior, I think it helps if the proceeds of that tax are ring-fenced to try and help solve the problem that the tax has been put in place for.
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Interviewer3:40
This stuff is really interesting, and it's something that you've promised to sort of help convey to travel agents so they can then communicate with more knowledge when they get faced with this, because you're saying consumers are increasingly interested in this.
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Steve Heapy3:53
Yeah, I think there is a growing awareness from consumers, and we just heard searches on some of the search engines are increasing quite a lot. And we're lucky enough at Jet2 to have lots of sustainability resources. We've got a sustainability director, a head of sustainability, lots of sustainability managers. But you know, some of the people we met over the last couple of days, it's one, two, three travel agents, and obviously being small businesses, they can't have the focus on sustainability that we can because they don't have the resources. So we're going to help to try and communicate what the issues are and what some of the solutions might be to try and become more sustainable.
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Interviewer4:35
Absolutely. And you're also going to help them contact their local MP to make sure that local government and hopefully central government, the industry is... you know, we understand how they're viewing our industry. I think it's important to understand what the thoughts and policy objectives are of the people we're about to elect in the next 12 months. Yeah, how that might impact the airline industry and the wider travel industry. And you have the year of government, and you know, do you think it'll be any different when we get, let's assume a Labour government comes in? Do you think they'll be more receptive to the aviation industry's issues that it has to do with?
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Steve Heapy5:17
Well, I think the government of the day, if there's a groundswell of opinion, will listen, as it did. You know, you saw what happened with the ULEZ campaign, and I think it was Oxfordshire? They said was one because of a backlash on ULEZ. In terms of the electric car mandate, that's been put back because people were saying, 'Hang on a minute, how are we going to charge the cars? The electricity grid can't handle it.' So I think here, there's a groundswell of opinion, and evidence is put in front of the government or prospective government. They have a duty as politicians, as they're elected by members of the public, to listen to that opinion. And that's what we need to do, to try and tease out what their policy objectives are.
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Interviewer6:07
Yeah, and that groundswell could come from the working-class people you said who could well be priced out of holidays if there is so much taxation because you have to then pass that on to the customer. And you're saying it'll end up making aviation quite elitist, and they might be able to get a holiday when they've worked hard...
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Steve Heapy6:23
All year. Yeah, I mean, it's an indisputable fact that if taxes keep going up, then prices will keep going up. The fundamental law of supply and demand dictates that if prices keep going up, demand will go down. Therefore, if demand goes down, who is demand going to go down from? It will be the people that have been priced out of the market, i.e., the people on the lower end of the income spectrum. Therefore, flying will become the preserve of the rich and privileged. Yeah, which I think neither prospective government would want to make flying something for the elite. I mean, I think the thought of that is abhorrent.
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Interviewer7:03
Your policy, as I know you feel very passionate about it, Steve. We're just so grateful you came today because you've been rushing around, and I know really pleased to have you here. Thank you.
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Steve Heapy7:11
I do anything for some free food. It was lovely. Thank you.