Jet2.com and Jet2CityBreaks have expanded their City Breaks program for Winter 23/24, by announcing it will operate services to Vienna from Birmingham (exclusive route) and Manchester Airports for the full Winter 23/24 season, increasing the number of city break destinations on sale this winter to 12. In addition, the companies have introduced new services to Prague (exclusive route) and Krakow from East Midlands Airport, seeing these two routes extended across the whole of winter.
In addition, Jet2.com and Jet2CityBreaks have launched a spectacular new Christmas Markets destination for Winter 23/24 from Edinburgh Airport, with customers and independent travel agents in Scotland now able to book festive flights and trips to Prague.
Jet2.com and Jet2CityBreaks will operate two weekly dedicated services (Thursday and Sunday) to this magical Christmas destination from 30th November to 17th December 2023.
As a result of these new services, a choice of 12leisure city break destinations are now on sale with Jet2.com and Jet2CityBreaks for Winter 23/24 – Athens, Barcelona, Berlin (Christmas Market destination only), Budapest, Cologne (Christmas Market destination only), Copenhagen (Christmas Market destination only), Krakow, Paris, Prague, Rome, Venice, and Vienna. The unrivalled program is on sale from all ten UK bases – Belfast International, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle International, and London Stansted Airports, meaning it is truly jam-packed with choice when it comes to booking or visiting world-famous capitals, cultural centres, and historical gems.
The new flights and city breaks added are as follows:
Birmingham Airport
Up to two new weekly services (Monday and Friday) to Vienna between 10th November 2023 and 29th April 2024.
East Midlands Airport
Up to two new weekly services (Thursday and Sunday) to Krakow from 9th November 2023 to 19th May 2024.
Addition of up to two weekly services (Thursday and Sunday) to Prague from 10th November 2023 to 20th May 2024.
Edinburgh Airport
Launch of new Christmas Market destination to Prague, means two weekly dedicated services (Thursday and Sunday) to this magical Christmas destination from 30th November to 17th December 2023.
Manchester Airport
Introduction of up to two weekly services (Monday and Friday) to Vienna from 29th September 2023 to 20th May 2024.
Aer Lingus has increased capacity on its daily Manchester to New York JFK services, which now operate on an Airbus A330 for the first time, increasing available seats on each flight by 72% over the summer.
The move comes just over a year after the airline began its very first direct transatlantic flights to New York from its then new North of England hub, which initially operated on a single-aisle Airbus A321LR.
Replacing the A321LR with a larger twin-aisled Airbus A330s enables them to redeploy their A321LR aircraft onto its transatlantic routes from Dublin, including to Hartford, which launched last month, as well as Dublin to Cleveland, which takes off in May.
Photo: Are Lingus
Previously, the A321LR offered 184 daily departing seats from Manchester to JFK, but from today, that number will rise to 317 – 71% more seats available in Economy, (up by 119 to 287) – and an 88% increase in fully lie-flat Business Class seats (up by 14 to 30).
This summer, Aer Lingus will fly daily and direct from Manchester to New York JFK and to Orlando in North America, with seasonal winter services to Barbados due to restart in November.
Its three transatlantic services complement the carrier’s daily services from Manchester to Dublin (up to six a day), with seamless onward connections to 13 transatlantic routes, via quick and easy pre-clearance facilities at their Dublin Hub.
Avelo Airlines is expected to announce four additional destinations in the near future:
Greenville/Spartanburg, SC – service starts on June 7 to both Orlando and New Haven.
GSP flights start on June 7 to MCO and HVN
Manchester, NH
Memphis, TN
Rochester, NY
Avelo Airlines’ flight attendants
The company later made this announcement:
Avelo Airlines announced three new nonstop routes, extending Avelo’s U.S. network to 37 destinations:
Alabama’s Mobile International Airport (BFM) to Orlando’s most convenient airport – Orlando International Airport (MCO). Avelo will begin service at BFM with a special inaugural flight on Wednesday, May 31, followed by twice weekly flights on Thursdays and Sundays. BFM is the Gulf Coast’s newest airport. BFM’s downtown Mobile location makes it the city’s most convenient airport. Avelo will be the only airline operating scheduled service at BFM when it takes flight in May and the only airline offering nonstop service to Orlando from the greater Mobile region.
South Carolina’s Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) to MCO. Avelo will begin service between GSP and MCO on June 7 with twice weekly flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays, then transitioning to Mondays and Fridays on June 23. GSP is Avelo’s third South Carolina destination, joining Charleston and Myrtle Beach. With the addition of BFM and GSP, Orlando will now serve 13 nonstop destinations. Introductory one-way fares start at $49*.
GSP to Southern Connecticut’s most convenient airport – Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN). This route will begin on June 22 with twice weekly flights on Thursdays and Sundays. GSP represents Avelo’s 15th destination from HVN. Avelo is the only airline offering nonstop service between Connecticut and GSP. Introductory one-way fares start at $49*.
Top Copyright Photo: Avelo Airlines Boeing 737-86N WL N233GE (N804VL) (msn 38030) BWI (Tony Storck). Image: 959539.
easyJet (UK) issued its financial report for its fiscal first quarter:
easyJet’s first quarter financial performance was ahead of expectations as yields strengthened, with revenue per seat increasing 36% year on year. Airline ancillary revenue continued to perform well, at £20.12 per seat, also increasing 36% year on year. easyJet holidays remains the UKs fastest growing major holiday company, with a 161% increase year on year in customers as demand for travel in the UK remains strong.
Moving into the second quarter of this financial year, easyJet expects RPS growth year on year to continue the trend experienced in Q1. This is driven by yield and load factor growth alongside the continued delivery of ancillary products. easyJet holidays will continue to see customer growth through the quarter, alongside investment into marketing and advertising as part of the turn of year sale campaign.
easyJet’s leading low-cost proposition at primary airports provides a key differentiator for customers making it easy to travel, whilst offering great value. Demand for our network is strong demonstrated through record turn of year bookings. Easter, which sits in Q3, is currently trading very well with sold ticket yields +24% vs FY19, noting the later booking window. With strong UKdemand, easyJet holidays is now over 60% sold for this summer, based on the previously guided 30% growth year on year. With the holidays business not constrained and considering current levels of demand, we now expect to see growth of circa 50% on FY22.
Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet, said:
“We have seen strong and sustained demand for travel over the first quarter, carrying almost 50% more customers compared with last year. Many returned to make bookings during the traditional turn of year sale where we filled five aircraft every minute in the peak hours, which culminated in three record-breaking weekends for sales revenue this month.
“This strong booking performance, aided by the airline’s step changed revenue capability, has driven an £80m year on year boost in the first quarter with continued momentum as customers prioritise spending on holidays for the year ahead. easyJet holidays, the fastest growing holidays company in the UK, is upgrading its ambitious growth plans for the year given the strong demand.
“In summary, we expect to see our winter loss reduce significantly over the first half compared to last year. This will set us firmly on the path to delivering a full year profit, where we anticipate beating the current market expectation enabling us to create value for customers, investors and the economies we serve.”
Capacity
During Q1 easyJet flew 20.2 million seats, in line with guidance, a significant increase on the same period last year when easyJet flew 15.5 million seats. Load factor was 87% (Q1 FY22: 77%), due to increased customer demand coupled with restriction-free travel.
Passenger3 numbers in the quarter increased to 17.5 million (Q1 FY22: 11.9 million).
October 2022
November 2022
December 2022
Q1FY23
Q1FY22
Number of flights
49,071
28,907
34,914
112,892
85,618
Peak operating aircraft
313
254
261
313
251
Passengers 3 (thousand)
7,505
4,543
5,433
17,481
11,891
Seats flown (thousand)
8,732
5,178
6,250
20,159
15,471
Load factor 4
86%
88%
87%
87%
77%
Sustainability
During the quarter, easyJet’s CO2 emissions per RPK reduced 11% year on year. Alongside this, our partnership with Rolls-Royce set a new aviation milestone with the world’s first run of a modern aeroplane engine fuelled by green hydrogen. To further underpin the commitment to achieving our net zero roadmap, easyJet announced a partnership with Airbus, Bristol Airport and EDF Hynamics, with the objective of turning Bristol Airport into a hydrogen hub.
Revenue, Cost and Liquidity
Revenue continued to benefit from strong demand for easyJet’s leading network, the continued outperformance of ancillary products and easyJet holidays. Significant fuel price increases year on year and the strengthened USD have resulted in fuel cost per seat being 76% (£8.44) more than the same period last year. One-off costs were incurred during the quarter as 15 wet leased aircraft utilised in summer 22 left the fleet at the end of October.
Financing costs benefitted from the strengthening of sterling versus the USD over the quarter which has driven a non-operating, non-cash FX gain of £13 million (Q1 FY22: £15 million gain) from balance sheet revaluations.
