Jet2 will begin flying from London Gatwick Airport for the first time from late March 2026.
The airline has secured six slots following the release of additional capacity by the airport and will base five Airbus A321neo aircraft there, with another aircraft positioned overseas.
For summer 2026, it will fly from Gatwick to 29 destinations, including mainland Spain, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Greece, Turkiye, Portugal, Malta, Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Cyprus.
Gatwick will be Jet2’s 14th base and serves a catchment area of almost 15 million people who can access it by road or rail within 60 minutes.
Jet2 said the move ‘marks a transformational next step in Jet2’s ambitions, further underpinning and accelerating its growth strategy and expanding its presence in the South of England’.
CEO Steve Heapy called the move a ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity’, while agents posted on the Travel Gossip Facebook group to say it was a ‘gamechanger’ and good news for clients in the south of the country.
Speaking at the Hays retail conference in Greece, Hays Chief Operating Officer Jonathon Woodall-Johnston said: “We welcome Jet2’s expansion from Gatwick.
“We see it as a great opportunity and we like more choice. The competition is healthy and it drives value for our customers and choice for our people.
“We were delighted to hear the news and I am sure it will be a huge success as well.”
Jet2 said: “London Gatwick represents a key component of Jet2’s longer term growth and value creation plan and we are pleased that this valuable opportunity has arisen earlier than management’s original expectations.”
Steve said: “Today’s announcement represents an incredibly exciting moment for Jet2. For many years, our ambition has been to provide our differentiated, service led, end-to-end product offering from London Gatwick, and we see this as a once in a generation opportunity to accelerate our growth from the UK’s largest beach and city leisure destination airport.
“This development represents a transformational change in our addressable market underscoring the scale of the opportunity, and we are thrilled to be able to introduce our award-winning Customer First service from London Gatwick next year.
“While establishing our holiday operations and service will understandably take time and investment in the short term, we expect to deliver meaningful profit growth in the longer term, in line with our People, Service, Profits philosophy.”
Jet2 said it is stepping up short-term investment to fund the Gatwick expansion.
It added: “In the balance of FY26, the Group will incur promotional and resourcing start-up costs ahead of operational launch in March 2026, whilst in FY27 it will substitute three short-term leased (ACMI) aircraft into its existing bases in order to release Airbus A321neos for the London Gatwick operation. In FY28 the higher cost ACMI aircraft will be replaced with new, more efficient A321neo aircraft from our pre-existing Airbus delivery stream.
“The Group expects the London Gatwick operation to move into profitability in FY29 and to deliver meaningful profit growth thereafter.”
The statement added: “Looking further ahead, the agreement also provides Jet2 with a strong strategic foothold to benefit from future expansion at London Gatwick, including the potential introduction of a second runway.”
London Gatwick Chief Executive Pierre-Hugues Schmit said: “It is an exciting time for Jet2 to join London Gatwick following the recent government approval for routine use of our Northern Runway, which will further expand connectivity and economic growth.
“We are committed to delivering exceptional service and we look forward to supporting Jet2’s growth and success here at London Gatwick.”
