Jet2 in ‘David v Goliath’ battle
Start-up leisure airline JetXtra.com claims Jet2 is trying to sabotage the launch of its flights to Spain from Humberside this summer by insisting it changes its name.
Jet2 has sent JetXtra a solicitor’s letter warning that it will take legal action unless it drops the name JetXtra by tomorrow (Thursday).
It says the name is too similar to Jet2 and that members of the public might mistakenly believe the two companies are the same, or at least related.
JetXtra accused Jet2, which is based at Leeds Bradford Airport, of starting a "David vs Goliath" battle to scupper the launch of JetXtra’s flights out of Humberside Airport, just 78 miles away.
JetXtra director Daniel Reilly said: "It is absolutely absurd that Jet2, a well known and generally respected airline is attempting to disrupt our services, I cannot believe they would resort to such dirty tactics to stop a new company which poses no threat to them from entering the market, especially at a time when our country is desperately in need of enterprise and job creation.
"The only similarity between our companies is the word ‘jet’, our logos and websites are completely different and Jet2 operate from Leeds Bradford Airport, serving and targeting a different market to that of jetXtra.com.
Reily said he gave the general public a lot more credit than Jet2 and didn’t believe they would confuse the two airlines. "This is quite evident by the fact that no visitors to our website have come to it by mistake after searching for Jet2".
JetXtra is planning to launch flights to Palma and Malaga in June.
Jet2 said it supported free and fair competition, but said the name JetXtra was "extremely similar" to Jet2, Jet2.com and Jet2holidays.com, which might cause customers in the north of England to confuse the two, especially as Humberside is within its own catchment area.
It has written to JetXtra.com requesting that it sign a written undertaking to stop using the name by 4pm on Thursday.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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