Holiday operator to offer flights from Dorset airport

Holiday operator Jet2 has announced it is to offer holidays from Bournemouth Airport from next April.

The 16 new routes will start next spring and will included flights to Turkey, Spain, Portugal and Greece.

The news comes after the airport said it expected to see its highest passenger figures this year since 2008.

Jet2 said it would base two aircraft at Bournemouth, flying to Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Alicante, Palma (Majorca), Ibiza, Menorca, Antalya, Dalaman, Faro, Madeira, Crete (Heraklion), Corfu, Rhodes and Zante.

It will operate up to 27 weekly flights throughout the summer. The first will depart to Tenerife on 1 April 2025.

More than 100 new jobs will be created initially, with positions available across flight deck, cabin crew, engineering and ground operations, the company said.

Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy said customers and travel agents had been urging the airline to operate from Bournemouth – its 12th UK base.

Bournemouth Airport is investing more than £5m in new facilities and staff to cater for an expected increase in passenger numbers.

Planned improvements include an upgraded security search area, with new scanning equipment to relax the restriction on liquids and the need to take electronics out of bags.