Chief Executive Officer, Jet2
Webcast: Jet2 Luton base launch
'If you look at our other bases we've got a history of growing pretty quickly and we hope to do that at Luton as well', Lucy Huxley speaks to Jet2's Steve Heapy about plans to grow for its latest base and the wider trading picture
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 (74 segments)
L
Lucy0:00
Well, good morning everyone and welcome to this latest webcast that we're bringing you from Travel Weekly. And I'm joined once again by Steve Heapy, the CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2 Holidays. Hello, Steve. How are you?
S
Steve Heapy0:13
I'm all right, thanks Lucy. How are you?
L
Lucy0:15
I'm really good. And you are joining us from yet another new base. I mean, there was a time when you were very sort of cautious and said you'd stay in the north and all of a sudden they're coming thick and fast.
S
Steve Heapy0:27
Yeah, we're in Luton today. London Luton airport. Just seen our first flight away going to Morca on time, of course. So, very exciting. I've just had a bacon sandwich and some coffee. So, I'm feeling all right again.
L
Lucy0:43
You're feeling chipper now. I'm pleased we've got you when you're full. All right. So, obviously you announced that you were going to be opening at Luton back in November. This is your 13th base and it comes very quickly after Bournemouth. But at the time you announced it, you said you'd been asked for this for a long time. As you said, there was real demand for Luton.
S
Steve Heapy1:06
We had from some of our customers that go to other bases and Luton was more convenient and from some people that hadn't booked with us before and from travel agents. They wanted us to expand our footprint and offer flights and holidays from here. We've got them on sale and so far the sales are going well and we had very full flights going this morning.
L
Lucy1:30
So, just remind us how many. You've added another 430,000 seats then to the program but from Luton and it's 36 weekly flights I believe to 17 destinations. Is that right?
S
Steve Heapy1:45
That's correct. 36 flights a week. 430,000 seats. 17 destinations.
L
Lucy1:50
Can you name them?
S
Steve Heapy1:53
Well, I've got the press release in front of me. Yeah, I can. You've mentioned Morca. That was your first one. I think you've got Tenerife and also Antalya today. And then you have two Balearic Islands: Ibiza and Morca. Four Canary Islands: Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote. We have three mainland Spain: Alicante, Girona, and Reus. We have three Greek destinations: Kefalonia, Rhodes, and Zante. We have the lovely Verona in Italy, Faro and Madeira in Portugal. And then in Turkey we've got Antalya and Dalaman. So hopefully something for everyone.
L
Lucy2:50
Yeah. Two of those destinations are exclusive to Luton, aren't they?
S
Steve Heapy2:56
They are. Yes. So very exciting. Customers very happy this morning. We treated them to a breakfast. One lucky customer and her family won a holiday in a five-star hotel. We had a little draw thing, a little tombola thing. Great. So everyone went away happy and hopefully, well, not hopefully, definitely they will experience our award-winning service. No doubt you saw the TripAdvisor thing a couple of weeks ago saying we had the friendliest cabin crew in the UK.
L
Lucy3:37
Oh, good for you and well done for getting award-winning in and we're only 5 minutes in. So, excellent. Now you've got two new aircraft there. These are the Airbus Neos. And you've created 125 jobs as well in the region.
S
Steve Heapy3:55
That's right. 125 direct jobs and no doubt there'll be more jobs created on the back of that indirectly. We've got two of our new aircraft, Airbus A321 Neo, more fuel efficient than the existing generation of aircraft, half as noisy, and we've got as you know an order for 146, $18 billion order, and we're very pleased to have them here at Luton.
L
Lucy4:25
So, this is obviously just an initial sort of foray. I guess the plan would be to grow this eventually if it goes well.
S
Steve Heapy4:34
Absolutely, that is the plan. If you look at our other bases, we've got a history of growing pretty quickly and we very much hope to be able to do that here at Luton as well. There's certainly the demand there for our award-winning package holidays and flights.
L
Lucy4:55
Sorry. So encourageable. Try and do the whole interview without saying that from now on. Right. Let's see if that's even possible.
S
Steve Heapy5:04
Okay, I promise I'll try not to say that we are multi-award-winning from now on.
L
Lucy5:13
Okay, that's it. I'm going to stop the interview if you do it again. Right, let's talk about demand then. That's important because you said sales had gone well. You obviously put it on sale at the end of last year for this summer. When you say gone well, what do you mean by that? Has it been across all those destinations? Has it been certain, you know, has it been the core summer or what? Or you sold well into winter?
S
Steve Heapy5:46
I think everywhere's sold well. I mean, we did go on sale quite late because we only announced it what, five months ago and the other bases had 17 months to sell. So we've obviously had to work a little harder to fill the routes because we had pretty much a year less to sell them. But given the time we had, we think they've gone very well. And we had an aircraft full of happy customers this morning. And the other two flights will be going full later on this morning. So, yeah, very happy with it. Lucy, it's the first day, but nevertheless, it's hopefully the start of a long and successful story here at London Luton.
L
Lucy6:37
Yeah. Because you've got competition there, of course, haven't you? You've got Ryanair and Wizz and EasyJet and Tui. So, I mean, you obviously felt there was room for you as well.
S
Steve Heapy6:55
Well, I think that's demonstrated by the fact that we're filling the aircraft. There definitely is the demand there. And I think people wanted our product and hopefully we will deliver the award-winning service to which they are accustomed. Now you put me in a spot because I don't really want to finish the interview and I threatened I would. It's like when you tell your kids you're going to do something and then you never follow through with it. I'm sorry, Lucy. You're like a naughty child.
L
Lucy7:40
Steve, I'll try harder. I know you're disappointed with me and I'm disappointed with myself.
S
Steve Heapy7:46
Yeah. Well, I mean, but the thing is, look, let's just talk about that. You are there with some stiff competition and you're saying that people want your product. You have to keep evolving your product clearly to make sure they do come in and ask for yours. So, what are you doing to make sure that what you're offering is different to the other players coming out of that airport or anywhere else you've got competition?
Well, I think our package holiday product is differentiated obviously the service element. We've got our overseas customer helpers in resorts. Many holiday companies don't have those and those people help our customers make sure they have a great holiday. They're there to sort any problems, to help them with anything they want. And it's something that we're very proud of. Our customer service scores, customer feedback is very, very complimentary and it's something we'll keep doing. You've got to continually raise the bar higher.
L
Lucy9:04
Yeah. Because other people will, you know, you used to talk about your baggage allowance. Obviously, you've got your in resort check-ins and things like that, but other people then do the same sorts of things. So, how will you continue maybe through the rest of this year and into 26? How will you continue to make sure your offering is differentiated?
S
Steve Heapy9:34
Well, you've got to keep looking at what you do. You've got to look at your customer satisfaction scores. See where people are complimentary about you. See where people are not very complimentary about you. Don't get all precious about it and upset when people complain. They're complaining for a reason. Look into it, find out the cause of the problem and fix it. And that's what we do. You've got to continually raise the bar higher.
L
Lucy10:10
All right. So, great news about Luton. I don't want to take away from that, but if we can talk about just the year in general, Steve, because I don't know how you've found it. You obviously added capacity, as did EasyJet. We spoke to them yesterday because they were opening Southend, and they were saying they were very comfortable with their increased capacity, but when I spoke to TUI, they were saying they were very pleased. They hadn't increased capacity because they said there was a lot still left to sell. So, where are you sitting on that? You did increase. Are you comfortable?
S
Steve Heapy10:58
Yes, I am. I'm comfortable with where we are this summer. We have increased capacity across the board by 9%, roughly 5% of that is in the new bases. So like for like just over 4%, but I'm pretty comfortable with where we are. It's been a consistent sales period so far. You know, it was a bit tricky right at the start. It got off to a slower than normal but steady start and I think that's how I would describe it. It's been steady. So I'm pretty happy with where we are at the moment, Lucy.
L
Lucy11:43
Yeah. Okay. And so we've got agents though that are saying there is still a lot out there. They're anticipating obviously a stronger lates market, but they're saying they do expect tweaks in the pricing. They think there is going to be some discounts there. What's your view on that?
S
Steve Heapy12:13
It depends really. If it's a late market then it may be the case that there is some discounting, but you have to be careful not to lead the market. If you start discounting too early then you condition people to expect discounting closer to your departure and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that it's a late market. So people have to try and hold their nerve and not start a downward spiral of pricing, which of course isn't good for the industry because we all need to make profits to make sure we can invest in our companies in the future.
L
Lucy13:01
So, do you worry that other people may bottle it and they have to?
S
Steve Heapy13:13
Well, you never know. I would hope that isn't the case, but you've just got to see how things pan out. Hold your nerve. It looks like it might be a late market. So don't jump too early.
L
Lucy13:31
Yeah. What are the alternatives if you weren't to reduce your pricing? Could you just build more in or what can you do to get the market moving and not actually create a price war?
S
Steve Heapy13:49
Well, dropping the price should be one of the last things you do. If sales are slow, you should be marketing and trying to attract customers, try and persuade them to book a holiday, give them a reason to book a holiday. I mean, why wouldn't you want to go on holiday? The weather's not great. It's a bit depressing at the moment. There's not a lot of good news around. Why don't you get on holiday? Get a bit of sun and relax. And it's very consistent. If you look at some of the economic data and the Barclays monthly spending report, it's consistently said that people are not spending as much on lottery tickets, streaming services, nights out, etc., but holidays is still very consistent. I think we know now it's not a commoditized product anymore. It's an essential purchase. It's certainly an essential purchase for me. I need a bit of sun and I need to get away from things. And I think everyone else is the same. Holiday is so important and it's good for your health as well. I think we saw that during the pandemic that people really missed it and there were some studies that said having a holiday is actually good for your health physically and mentally. So why wouldn't you get away?
L
Lucy15:31
Yeah. You mentioned though that it's pretty depressing at the minute. I mean, we're doing this interview. It's the 1st of April. Or what some people are talking about, they're calling awful April. We've got all these increased costs coming in. Energy bills, the cost of living is going to be biting again a bit more. We've got the national living wage. So there's a lot coming down the line, Steve. Does that concern you at all in terms of whether people, I know you're saying a holiday is an essential, but it is going to create some issues for certain people, isn't it? In terms of their disposable income.
S
Steve Heapy16:22
It could do. Yeah, it could do. We just got to make sure that we attract as many people as we can with the right products and the right pricing. But also something that's very important is the service we provide. People want value for money. It's not necessarily being the cheapest. You've got to provide great customer service as well. And if someone picked, for example, a multi-award-winning company with overseas customer helpers in resort, then that probably would make a big difference to them because they would ensure there's the quality there for what they're paying.
L
Lucy17:13
Okay. So you're not concerned about the economy or the impact of it on certain people's ability, or do you think it will check? Even if they still take a holiday, do you anticipate them changing what they might, how they might usually have booked?
S
Steve Heapy17:34
They could do. I mean, you might see the average stay come down. People tend not to trade down on star rating or board basis if they're used to something. But they might stay for one night less to keep within budget. And that's something that we're very good at because we do holidays of any duration. We pioneered that several years, 15 years ago, and it's a very strong part of our offering that people can book for pretty much any duration they want. So they're able to choose in line with their budget. So you might see a bit of that as people are tightening their belts in some way. And you got to make sure you provide value for money. And like I said, it's not just about the price, it's about what people get for the money. They want to feel like they've not been ripped off and they've had a great time. Whatever you're spending, you want to feel like a VIP on holiday. You just want to relax, get away from everything, and you want everything to go well. So you have to make sure you deliver on that.
L
Lucy19:01
At the Hayes IG conference just yesterday, we were reporting that they were saying actually long haul and cruise were particularly strong for them because actually the pricing on long haul was now getting closer to a short holiday. Do you see that having an impact on your business at all? If people are thinking, oh well, I could go short haul, but hang on, for that price, I can actually go long haul.
S
Steve Heapy19:34
There's always an element of people that will go long haul and maybe people choose to do that once every few years, but I think the short market is still very strong. A lot of people, particularly when they're trying to manage through a budget and they perhaps because of that want to stay for a few number of days, short haul becomes more attractive because you're spending less time on aircraft. So I would suggest that if people are watching the budgets and looking at the number of nights they stay, well short haul's better because you get more time in resort.
L
Lucy20:19
Yeah. And just before we finish on the sort of cost and economy side of things, obviously there's indications now that Rachel Reeves might have to increase taxes again later this year. Do you think that might have an impact in terms of people potentially only going on holiday every other year or will it have an impact on trends at all?
S
Steve Heapy20:46
Well, an increase in taxes definitely means that people have less money to spend. So I very much hope they don't increase taxes. But if they do, then we've got to hope that people still see holidays as an essential purchase and perhaps spend a bit less on discretionary things. But I think the holiday product is very resilient. It's seen very much as something you need to do and hopefully that will continue.
L
Lucy21:22
Yeah, absolutely. Everyone needs a holiday as you said. We do. Let's talk about something a bit more positive. You just announced a fantastic new campaign, Scale Up Your Street. You're offering to, I know this is a big passion of yours, Steve. We talked about it a lot about how you really believe the high street needs revitalizing. I know you want the government to do more on that front, but you're now getting involved and helping agents to increase their footprint on the high street because you're so passionate about it. Tell us about why you've done that.
S
Steve Heapy22:10
Well, I think the high street generally, there's not a lot of investment and not a lot of effort gone into it from successive governments. And if you look at some high streets, they are a shadow of their former self. The national brands are disappearing, decent shops are disappearing, and in many high streets there's pound shops, vape shops, charity shops, fast food shops, nail bars and barbers.
L
Lucy22:46
Sounds like you're describing my high street. In fact, it's very similar to my high street as well.
S
Steve Heapy22:55
And I think there needs to be a regeneration of high streets. I think someone in the government has to take this very seriously. I think you can breathe life into high streets. The local council should be looking at changing some of the properties from commercial to residential. Have a few people living there. Create a, rather than having a ghost town outside shopping hours, create communities on the high street. Then you'll get little bars, cafes, restaurants opening up. When you get that, you'll get more shops and it once again would become the center of the community. Because at the moment the opposite's happening and it's terrible. And it doesn't help charging a fortune for parking if you're lucky enough to be able to get into the town center because it's not all cycle lanes. And it's just become very difficult. And I think the government has to do something to breathe life back into the high street.
L
Lucy24:10
Yeah. And until they do, you've decided to take matters into your own hands and come up with your own little campaign then.
S
Steve Heapy24:19
Well, yeah. I mean, there's not a lot we can do. Obviously we're not in government, but we want to do a little bit to help. And there's a lot of people out there that want to perhaps start a travel agency or expand their travel agency. And if we can help in some way, we will do because travel agents always have been and still are a very important part of our business. And we want to help to build that.
L
Lucy24:55
I mean, you're underplaying it a little bit. You're talking about six figure sums of money that you're prepared to potentially invest in these 10 winners. They've obviously got to do a very substantial pitch to you. They've got to get past a board of judges, but I mean, that's not insignificant. It's the financial contribution plus you've also promised training and just general support to help them run that as well. So, I mean, you're being a bit humble about it, but it's a really nice initiative.
S
Steve Heapy25:34
It is. It was Alan's idea, Alan Cross. He's very passionate about the high street obviously because he's responsible for our travel agent relationships, but it's something Alan's very passionate about and I think it's a great idea and I hope it's successful. I don't see why it wouldn't be.
L
Lucy26:04
Yeah. All right. Well, I think agents have got until the end of April to submit their pitches. So we'll obviously hear in a month or so who has been successful and we'll follow how they get on and that will be great to see.
S
Steve Heapy26:22
Yeah. I don't think I'm on the panel of judges. Alan thought I was too miserable and grumpy. So I think I've been banned.
L
Lucy26:34
I think he's 100% right. Stay away. Never get any money if it was you. Um, last time we spoke, Steve, you said you'd been quite encouraged by your initial conversations with the new government. It's a few months on now. Have you spoken to them anymore since then? You were talking they were being more positive around...
S
Steve Heapy27:04
Yeah, we met a few people. Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, and Mike Kane, the aviation minister. Met them both and they've both made positive noises about what they want to do in terms of airport expansion, the staff mandate, etc., and the revenue certainty mechanism. They just need to follow up words with action now. I think a strong aviation sector is important to the economy, that's something Rachel Reeves has said. So I hope that they will put in place the revenue certainty mechanism pretty soon.
L
Lucy27:49
So that feels like it's the same as what we said before then. So you've had those meetings but you haven't seen any actual action since.
S
Steve Heapy27:58
That's right. We've heard a lot of very positive statements but we need action. We need people to build SAF plants in the UK and the SAF companies won't build SAF plants until there's the revenue certainty mechanism. So it follows that the quicker you get the revenue certainty mechanism in place, the quicker you have SAF plants and SAF therefore should be cheaper because we don't have to import it from overseas. And then it makes it a viable alternative for you to put into your businesses. Because otherwise it's just another demand management mechanism whereby prices keep going up for air travel and when prices go up demand will drop. And I think we got to be very, very wary of this because if prices keep coming up, demand will drop and who are the people that will not be booking? It's the people at the lower income ends of the scale. And I think it's disgraceful that people at the lower end of the income scale will be the ones that won't be able to fly and go on holiday. Everyone should have the opportunity to go on holiday. So I hope they, as I said, Heidi and Mike have certainly made good noises. They both seem very energetic.
L
Lucy29:34
And do you think that could happen this year?
S
Steve Heapy29:37
I hope so. Yeah.
L
Lucy29:40
Okay. They must have a lot on the plate, I know. And it's already April. You sort of feel like we're in the start of a new year and then you realize we're already a quarter of the way through.
S
Steve Heapy29:55
Yeah. But I'm encouraged by them both. They're both very approachable people. They both seem very passionate about their sectors and their areas of responsibility and I look forward to carrying on talking to them and hopefully we'll see some progress. So pretty encouraging so far.
L
Lucy30:19
Yeah. All right. Okay. Conscious of your time, Steve. I know you've got to see the next flight off. Just before you go though, are you going to calm down and have a little bit of a rest on opening new bases or have you got more that you're looking at?
S
Steve Heapy30:37
No, this is it for some time. I know I said that last time and then we announced two, but no, this is it. We've got a lot to do now. Liverpool's in its second year of operation. Just increased that to five aircraft. Bournemouth started a couple of months ago. Summer 26 is on sale. That'll be up to three aircraft then. And then we've just started London Luton in April. So we've got a bit of nurturing to do for our younger bases whilst keeping our other 10 bases growing as well. So there's a lot to do, Lucy.
L
Lucy31:25
So, it would be remiss of me not to ask just in case you're going to slip another one in there. And also, I mean, I might as well ask, are you, because everybody always wants to know, will you consider long haul? I feel slightly futile, but I've got you here. And you always say never say never, but people, if I look on any chat, people want Jet2 to fly long haul.
S
Steve Heapy31:55
Yeah. Predictably, I'm going to say never say never. I didn't want to disappoint you, but you never know. But we've got a lot to do in our current sphere of operation. We've got 135 aircraft this summer. They'll be flying to lots of places around the Mediterranean, North Africa, etc. And we've got a lot of customers to keep happy and a lot of bases to manage. So we're very concentrated as always on looking after our customers and making sure they have a great time.
L
Lucy32:37
Yeah. And you've made a success of kind of sticking to your knitting, haven't you? Like what you do well and just slightly expanding each time but doing the same, short haul is your expertise.
S
Steve Heapy32:52
Yeah. And we've seen in the past companies that have perhaps attempted to do too much too soon. Some of the projects were perhaps vanity led and they've come unstuck. And you've got to be very disciplined and constrained and make sure when you do something, it's fully justified and you've thought about it carefully, otherwise you can end up in a mess. So we've got a lot to do in terms of our current bases and current destinations.
L
Lucy33:31
So, and just on the current day, I mean, we've obviously covered bases, but in terms of destinations, are they all doing okay or are you seeing different trends at all this year in terms of people wanting to go to certain places?
S
Steve Heapy33:52
Pretty consistent across the board really. No real standout performers or underperformers, but we're again seeing that people want to get away and go on holiday. Destinations have good periods and bad periods.
L
Lucy34:13
Yeah, it is. You're right. There's always a bit of an up and down, isn't there? And some come in then they're back again. It used to be the case that a western Mediterranean customer would always go to the western Med and eastern vice versa. But people seem to be a bit more adventurous now and want to get around the Mediterranean. They want to perhaps tick off destinations and try different places. And that's great. Why wouldn't you?
S
Steve Heapy34:52
Yeah.
L
Lucy34:55
All right. Good start. All right. Well, I'm conscious of your time, Steve. Thank you for joining us. Good luck with the next flight. Hope it goes on time.
S
Steve Heapy35:07
Thanks, Lucy. I'm sure it will. The other one went bang on time and I'm sure the next one will. So looking forward to seeing that off and seeing Luton develop over the next few years.
L
Lucy35:22
Yeah, we too. All right. Well, well done. Thank you so much and good luck today.