‘Woe betide anyone that tries to stop me from going on holiday’

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The departures space of Liverpool John Lennon airport has a brand new arrival. Alongside the check-in desks of present airways easyJet and Ryanair, vivid pink indicators promise “Friendly low fares”. Jet2 has simply opened its eleventh base, and is going from zero to 25 locations from the Merseyside airport in a matter of days.

Beneath a life-size bronze statue of John Lennon, check-in is buzzing lengthy earlier than daybreak.

The incumbent carriers, with their acquainted orange and blue liveries, could be the greatest price range airways in Europe. But solely Jet2 has a pink carpet main to a “welcome arch” on the entrance to the check-in space – with red-uniformed helpers in every single place.

“You know, it’s a daunting thing for people to go on holiday,” says Steve Heapy – chief government of each Jet2.com and its bundle supplier, Jet2 Holidays.

“Not everyone is a business traveller. For people travelling once a year, once every two years, it’s a big thing. They appreciate the help, and that’s what we’re here to do.

“If you have a happy customer and happy colleagues, then you know you have a good business.”

The first 10 events of passengers for the inaugural Jet2 departure from Liverpool to Tenerife turned up at round 5am and instantly grew to become even happier: Mr Heapy was on obligation to hand out “golden envelopes” containing vouchers for future free flights.

Competition, although, is fierce. Airlines and vacation corporations from Liverpool – and each different main UK airports – will probably be cashing in on the intense demand for Easter journey. On the easyJet flight from John Lennon airport on Easter Monday, just one seat stays at £244 – a technique, with out baggage. Yet by 20 April the identical seat is simply £37.

“There’s always room for competition,” Mr Heapy insists. “We’ve had another airline [easyJet] come into Birmingham and replicate some of our routes. This is this is what happens. Competition is healthy. The person that wins the most when there’s competition is the customer.”

Environmentalists are involved in regards to the enhance in aviation, which this weekend sees at the least three UK airports predicting their busiest-ever Easter.

Anna Hughes, director of Flight Free UK, says: “Last summer’s wildfires across the Mediterranean were a potent illustration that our climate situation is fragile and getting worse, and a bumper summer of flying will only exacerbate that.

“There are countless holiday destinations all across Europe that can be reached by boat, coach or train, for a fraction of the emissions of a flight, so not flying doesn’t mean giving up our holidays.”

Yet demand for flights and air-based bundle holidays seems insatiable, in accordance to the airline boss.

“Since Covid, we’ve seen that people are even more prioritising holidays over anything else,” says Mr Heapy.

“Sales of lottery tickets are down, streaming services like Netflix, etc, meals out – a lot of discretionary items are lower, but holidays are staying very high and understandably so.

“People were prevented on going on holiday for nearly two years. People couldn’t go and see loved ones, go away with family, catch up, relax, get some sun.

“Lots of surveys have shown that travel and holidays are very healthy for people.

“People see it as their absolute right to go on holiday. Woe betide anyone that tries to stop me from going on holiday and I’m sure customers feel the same.”

Steve Heapy, chief government of Jet2, was talking to Simon Calder’s every day journey podcast