Jet2 (United Kingdom) (LS, Leeds/Bradford) has opened an operational base at Tenerife Sur, supporting the low-cost carrier's significantly expanded Canary Islands programme this winter, due in part to the demise of Thomas Cook Airlines UK (Manchester International).
The LCC claims to have added over 200,000 departing seats to not just Tenerife, but also Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria from nine of its United Kingdom (UK) bases for the W19/20 season. To support its expanded Canary Islands operation, Jet2 determined that opening an operational base at the airport was necessary, enabling it to have a spare aircraft and replacement crew on permanent standby.
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2 and Jet2holidays said: “We are the UK’s leading operator to the Canary Islands, and we continue to demonstrate our confidence and commitment by adding more flights and holidays to the Islands. The opening of this operational base at Tenerife South Airport underlines our commitment to the Canary Islands and will play a key role in supporting our expansion, whilst also ensuring that we continue to deliver our award-winning customer experience.”
Pedro Manuel Martin Domínguez, President of the Island Government of Tenerife said: “We are thrilled that Jet2 has chosen to open an operational base in Tenerife. It shows their continued commitment to the island after adding in a lot of extra capacity this winter proving that Tenerife remains a top choice for UK holidays.”
Looking at the LCC's schedules, the importance of Tenerife is clear to see, as the airport is the second largest in terms of weekly capacity on its entire network behind only Manchester International, but ahead of bases like Birmingham, GB and Leeds/Bradford. The route between Manchester and Tenerife is also Jet2's largest, with a weekly capacity of 2,779 seats and 13 weekly frequencies. In fact, five of the airline's six largest routes are from its UK bases to Tenerife.
