Airline flying high as it creates 1,000 jobs

JET2.COM, part of Leeds-based Dart Group, has announced that it will be creating 1,000 jobs across the UK.

The airline will be recruiting 135 staff to be based at Leeds Bradford Airport, with the remainder spread across the country.

The positions will cover pilot, cabin crew and engineering roles.

Earlier this year the leisure airline announced that it had doubled pre-tax profits to £104.2m for the year to 31 March 2016.

Revenues also took off, rising 12% to £1.4bn.

The company said the success of Jet2.com and Jet2 Holidays was behind the stellar performance. It flew 6.07m passengers  over the year, and agreed to purchase 30 new Boeing 737-800NG aircraft to grow its fleet in 2015.

Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays said: “Our family-friendly formula is clearly working with customers and it means that we’re one of the UK’s fastest growing airlines.

“We have exciting plans to expand the number of destinations we fly to, as well as the number of UK bases we fly from, and this means that our team is growing all the time too.”

Tony Hallwood, Leeds Bradford Airport’s aviation development director, said: “It’s fantastic news that Jet 2 are recruiting as part of their route expansion from Leeds Bradford Airport, further supporting the region’s economy.

“We look forward to Jet2’s growth at LBA in 2017 when they will introduce new routes to Salonika, Naples, Almeria, Gerona and Berlin.”