Jet2 celebrates holiday bookings boost during fragile US-Iran peace talks

Package holiday provider Jet2 has said it has seen strong demand in recent weeks following the fragile US-Iran peace talks.

The company reported a pre-tax profit of £551 million for the year to the end of March, down 7% from £593 million a year earlier.

Bookings for summer travel are up 7% compared with a year ago, while the average proportion of seats filled on its flights for the four months to the end of July are 1.2 percentage points up year-on-year.

US President Donald Trump said he signed a peace deal with Iran last month, however he has since said that the memorandum of understanding signed to end the conflict was "over". Adding on Wednesday that he did not want to engage with Tehran, calling the Iranian leadership "sick people".

The US unleashed new military strikes on Iran and revoked a licence allowing Iran to sell oil in response to attacks on three tankers. It was the ‌latest blow to a fragile ceasefire agreement in a ‌war that is deeply unpopular in Europe.

It is not yet clear how this will effect flight bookings this summer.

Releasing its full-year financial results on Tuesday, Jet2 said: “Reduced geopolitical uncertainty has led to strong booking momentum in recent weeks.”

In a call with reporters, chief executive Steve Heapy said all of Jet2’s destinations have seen a boost in demand, but the largest rebounds in percentage terms are those most impacted by the war, such as Turkey, Cyprus, some of the eastern Greek islands, Bulgaria and parts of north Africa.

Top Jet2 destinations from the past 12 months:

Tenerife

Majorca

Lanzarote

Antalya

Costa Blanca

Dalaman

Gran Canaria

Algarve

Rhodes

Crete

Costa del Sol

Me Heapy said: “I think confidence has improved.

“People perhaps don’t like to commit to travelling when there is a conflict, even though from one of our Turkish resorts to Tehran it was 2,000 kilometres, that’s like from Edinburgh to the Canary Islands, that’s a hell of a long way.

“But people don’t like to commit, particularly perhaps families with younger children.

“But we are seeing a bounce-back across all our destinations, and I think people are now realising ‘I feel a little more confident, we’re going to go on holiday and get away’.”

He added: “We speak to our customers a lot and try and understand their booking intentions.

“A massive amount of people still want to go away.”

Jet2 reported record annual passenger numbers of 20.8 million, a 5% increase from a year earlier.

It said its performance at Gatwick Airport – where it launched flights and holidays in March – is “ahead of initial expectations” and further expansion is planned for summer 2027.

Julie Palmer, partner at consultancy firm Begbies Traynor, said: “Investors will be pleased to see strong profitability has been delivered alongside evidence of investment”.

She added: “Jet2 will be hoping a peace deal holds and stabilises the market as it eyes further growth.

“Signs that this is bringing back confidence in spending for holidaymakers during the crucial summer season will be welcomed by the operator too, and it will be hoping it can continue to tempt customers into spending on holidays.”