Jet2 boss Steve Heapy has issued an update to industry experts
A Jet2 Boeing 737 lands at Newcastle Airport(Image: Getty)
Jet2’s boss has warned of a sharp drop in bookings to Cyprus and Turkey but said tourists could get special offers. CEO Steve Heapy said flights on these routes are becoming “empty” due to the uncertainty caused by the Middle East conflict.
The boss said demand is instead moving to destinations such as Spain and Italy. TTG reported that he spoke about the issue via video link at the airline’s annual conference in Cádiz in Spain.
He also warned hotel partners to not ‘get greedy’ in Spain and Italy and keep prices competitive. And he vowed to protect customers where that happened.
He said he expects holidays to Cyprus and Turkey to recover quickly once the war in Iran ends. “I think we should all be prepared for a fairly rapid end to the conflict and a fairly sharp recovery when that happens,” he said.
Heapy said: “Bookings to Cyprus and Turkey are drying up, cancellations are up and our aircraft are emptying.” He said Jet2 was working to cross-sell customers to western Mediterranean destinations where demand “seems to be OK”.
Heapy added that Cyprus remained a safe destination despite a drop in demand to the island, which has been targeted by Iran since America and Israel launched airstrikes on the Middle Eastern nation.
He said: “Cyprus is still far enough away that you can still travel. We’re doing what we can to understand what’s going on and how we can work our way through it.”
‘Special offers’ to lure more travellers to Cyprus and Turkey
He expects hotels in Cyprus and Turkey to introduce special offers in the weeks ahead to lure more tourists in. Speaking to travel agents at the conference, he said: “We’ll do what we can to work with you and fight to get through this the best we can,” he said. “Our job is to put our customers’ fears to one side and reassure them that these destinations are safe.
“We’re a very resilient industry. These events happen every couple of years, and I’ll do whatever I can to help all our of businesses navigate through this.”
TTG also reported that Phil Nuttall, CEO of Travel Village Group, said it is too early to offer a full assessment of the crisis’s impact. Yet he said possible price rises could create problems for many families.
Jet2’s head of overseas operations, Lee Davies, also said the operator was putting more resource into challenges arising from the conflict, TTG said. “We’ve had to adapt our service, especially across Turkey and Cyprus at the moment. We have our red team, we’ve increased our presence, we’re visiting hotels, reassuring customers.
“We’ve expanded our visiting times and ring-fenced our 24/7 team in the UK. We’re contingency planning in terms of disruption management, you always have to have a very solid plan behind the scenes ready to activate.”
He reportedly added: “You’ve got to understand why in their minds, wherever that destination is, that they possibly don’t want to travel.” He added that by helping customers now, even if they do not then travel, “they will come back”.