Liverpool John Lennon Airport says Jet2's arrival boosts jobs and choices

More than 200 jobs will be created by the Jet2's arrival in Liverpool, the travel firm has said.

The firm will operate 54 weekly flights from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to 20 destinations with flights due to take-off from March 2024.

The company said the move was driven by "enormous demand" on Merseyside.

Airport chief executive John Irving said Jet2's plans meant flight deck, cabin crew, engineering, and ground operations jobs would be created.

He said it was the first time travellers would be able to book package holidays with the firm and fly direct from Liverpool, with about 565,000 seats available from next year.

He said the announcement brought "more options and gives more choice at different price points".

"It's also great to have seven new routes available that we know will be popular with holidaymakers and for our local independent travel agents to be able to sell," he added.

Jet2's chief executive Steve Heapy said the move had come from "significant customer demand" and the firm was "absolutely delighted" to make Liverpool "our 11th UK airport base".

A fleet of four aircraft will fly customers to destinations in mainland Spain, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Portugal, Madeira and Cyprus.

Gill McCarthy, from North West-based independent travel company Travel Counsellors, said 90% of her customers want to fly from Liverpool and post-pandemic travel demand was high.

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