Jet2 almost doubles Turkey programme for next summer
Jet2.com and Jet2holidays have announced major expansion to their Turkey programme for summer 2018 to keep up with demand.
The airline and its sister tour operator are adding more than 70,000 extra seats to the destination, which will almost double the programme for summer 18.
The expansion includes the launch of a new Birmingham to Dalaman route, with two weekly flights from May 2018.
Jet2 is also putting on six additional weekly scheduled services to Turkey, as well as extending the season from a number of bases.
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, said: "Since putting our summer 18 programme to Turkey on sale, we have seen a huge upswing in bookings so we are delighted to be increasing our Turkish programme even more. With new routes, more flights and more great value package holidays on sale, we hope that Turkey will be one of the big success stories of our biggest ever summer programme."
Antalya capacity will jump 115%, including the introduction of a third weekly flight at Leeds Bradford and a second weekly flight at Newcastle.
At Manchester, Jet2 will add larger aircraft on peak days and a fourth weekly service every Saturday.
Dalaman capacity has been increased by 56% thanks to the new Birmingham route and a third weekly flight from both Leeds Bradford and Manchester.
Jet2 has also added a third weekly service to Bodrum from Manchester meaning it will operate on a Tuesday, as well as on Mondays and Thursdays. In total, the company is growing summer 2018 capacity to Bodrum by 144%.
Turkey’s tourism has suffered in recent years from the country’s political unrest and a number of terror attacks, but UK operators say British holidaymakers are still booking.
In a TravelMole poll earlier this year, 59% of travel trade professionals said they expect Turkey to sell strongly this year.
The poll was carried out just after a New Year’s Eve Istanbul nightclub attack in which 39 people died. In 2016 attacks at Istanbul Ataturk Airport killed 45.
Last year, three Turkey specialists – Anatolian Sky, Jewel in the Crown Holidays and Elixir Holidays – ceased trading, the major tour operators slashed capacity and Mark Warner pulled out of the destination.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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