Jet2 CEO Steve Heapy revealed the company’s plan to cut the cost of acquiring customers as he announced the group made a £578 million pre-tax profit in the year to the end of March, up 11% on the previous year.
He said the operator and airline group is continuing to use ‘big data, cloud architecture and carefully governed Artificial Intelligence ‘to provide better quality intelligence on customer behaviour, ensuring the business remains agile and efficient in its customer acquisition strategy’.
Jet2 is upgrading its digital marketing infrastructure to a cloud-based platform to deliver more personalised marketing across its web and app channels, he said.
“This increasingly customer data-driven approach, together with new content management and digital asset management platforms,will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our marketing campaigns and increase conversion rates, thereby reducing the cost of acquiring customers,” added Steve.
The company’s myJet2 membership programme has more than seven million ‘active’ subscribers, he said, with more than 90% of its mobile app users signed up.
“The programme complements our customer retention strategy and is designed to encourage more users to book through either web or app channels by providing: tailored browsing; exclusive discounts and rewards; a streamlined booking process; enhanced pre-travel support; and in-resort experiences.
“In addition, our two-fold investment in the mobile app and myJet2 should also reduce reliance on more expensive third-party marketing tools,” added Steve.
Steve also pointed out that Jet2 hosts more than 350 of its top-selling travel agents at its four-day conference every year, adding: “The objective of the event is to gain valuable exposure, raise product awareness, boost sales and build lasting relationships with our much-valued independent travel agent partners.”
Jet2 paid out £184.5 million in agent commissions in the last financial year, 11% more than in 2024 due to a rise in holiday prices as well as higher volumes.
Hailing the last 12 month’s ‘record performance’, Steve said Jet2 is continuing to trade ‘in line with market expectations’ despite the current late-booking trend.
“We are satisfied with our progress for FY26 (full year) to date, although we remain mindful of the late-booking profile which limits forward visibility and the evolving geopolitical and economic landscapes,” he said.
“With the peak summer months of July, August and September not yet complete, plus the majority of winter 2025/2026 seat capacity of 5.8m still to sell, it remains premature, as is always the case at this time of year, to provide definitive guidance as to Group profitability for the financial year ending 31 March 2026.”
