Jet2 plc (formerly Dart Group plc) is a British multinational airline company based in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
, England.
Its head office is located in the Low Fare Finder House on the grounds of
Leeds Bradford Airport, England. Subsidiary
Jet2.com
Jet2.com Limited is a British low-cost leisure airline offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom. As of 2022, it is the third-largest scheduled airline in the UK, behind EasyJet and British Airways. Jet2 is also officia ...
has its head office in the same building.
The company's name for most of its existence was derived from the type of aircraft that it first flew, the
Handley Page Dart Herald
The Handley Page Dart Herald is a 1950s British turboprop passenger aircraft.
Design and development
In the mid-1950s Handley Page developed a new fast short-range regional airliner, intended to replace the older Douglas DC-3, particularly in ...
. After selling off other units, the company rebranded as Jet2 in 2020. The stock ticker symbol also changed to Jet2 to reflect the name change,
History
Leased aircraft
The company's operations originated in 1971 when Art Carpenter formed two companies: Carpenter's Air Services Ltd to fly flowers using contracted aircraft to the UK mainland from
Guernsey; and Carpenter's Transport to distribute the flowers on the UK mainland to wholesale markets. In 1975, these two companies became Express Air Freight.
Purchase of aircraft
In 1978, the company purchased
Handley Page Dart Herald
The Handley Page Dart Herald is a 1950s British turboprop passenger aircraft.
Design and development
In the mid-1950s Handley Page developed a new fast short-range regional airliner, intended to replace the older Douglas DC-3, particularly in ...
aircraft to fly flowers and fresh produce from the Channel Islands to
Bournemouth Airport
Bournemouth Airport (previously known as Hurn Airport and Bournemouth International Airport) is an airport located north-northeast of Bournemouth, in southern England. The site opened as RAF Hurn in 1941, but was transferred to civil contr ...
, and consumer goods from the UK via Bournemouth to the Channel Islands. In 1979, it became Express Air Services and flew contracts for the
Royal Mail to the Channel Islands from
Bournemouth,
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
from 1980.
Purchase by Philip Meeson
In 1983, the company changed its name to identify with its regional route, becoming three companies under the Channel Express name, which had the air freight, running of the two Dart Herald aircraft, and the distribution within the UK as separate operations. It was purchased in 1983 by
Philip Meeson, becoming Channel Express Group. It was split into Aviation Services and Distribution divisions. In 1985 a third Dart Herald aircraft was bought, which flew an overnight parcels service from
Birmingham Airport
Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...
to
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
and
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
.
Flotation
Channel Express Group Ltd floated on the UK's
Unlisted Securities Market
The Unlisted Securities Market (USM), which ran from 1980 to 1996, was a stock exchange set up by the London Stock Exchange to cater for companies too small to qualify for a full listing.
The USM allowed companies to be traded which did not have ...
(USM) and had seven Super Dart Herald aircraft. In 1989 it bought the first of three
Lockheed Electra aircraft, as well as having nine Super Dart Herald aircraft. In 1991, the company changed its name to Dart Group plc and floated on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...
.
Fowler Welch
In 1994 it purchased the Spalding-based company Fowler Welch, a
temperature-controlled distribution company. The first of seven
Fokker F27
The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...
aircraft was purchased in 1994. Its airline group, Channel Express (Air Services) bought its first 257-seater
Airbus A-300B4 in 1996. It was converted to become a freighter at BAE Systems in
Filton
Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church ...
. A southern distribution centre was built in
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
in 1999 under the Channel Express name. The Coolchain distribution company in Kent was bought in 1999. By 2000 the company had 1,500 employees and two divisions (air and freight distribution). In 2001, two
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...
aircraft were purchased with a ''quick-change'' facility allowing a freight aircraft to transform into a passenger aircraft in only 30 minutes.
On 1 June 2020 it was confirmed that Dart Group PLC had sold Fowler Welch for £98 million to
Culina Group
Culina Group Limited is a British food and drinks logistics company based in Market Drayton, Shropshire. It owns a number of other brands, including Eddie Stobart Group, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Müller Group.
History
The company was ...
Limited.
Jet2.com
In 2002, four
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...
aircraft were purchased with two becoming 737 QC (Quick change) aircraft and two as passenger aircraft. From February 2003, the Jet2
low-cost airline
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...
began flying from
Leeds Bradford Airport to mainland Europe destinations. Fowler-Welch and Coolchain merged to become Fowler-Welch Coolchain Ltd in 2003. Eight Boeing 737-300 aircraft (of which five were passenger aircraft) were purchased in 2003 to bring the total to 12. In 2004, six more Boeing 737-300 passenger aircraft were purchased, and routes from
Belfast International Airport started in April and from
Manchester Airport in December. In 2005, routes began from
Newcastle Airport in October and two
Boeing 757-200 aircraft were purchased. In 2006, six more Boeing 757-200 passenger aircraft were bought and the Channel Express Portsmouth distribution base was sold t
Ferryspeed C.I. Ltdin June. A
package holiday
A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the ho ...
company,
Jet2holidays
Jet2holidays is a British package holiday provider and tour operator. It was formed in 2007 as a subsidiary of Dart Group PLC (now renamed Jet2 PLC), and a sister to Jet2.com, the third-largest scheduled airline in the UK. As of 2018, Jet2holi ...
, was formed in January 2007.
Corporate Affairs
Below is the financial information of Jet2 plc and its predecessor Dart Group plc:
Operations
The company has the
Jet2.com
Jet2.com Limited is a British low-cost leisure airline offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom. As of 2022, it is the third-largest scheduled airline in the UK, behind EasyJet and British Airways. Jet2 is also officia ...
low cost airline that has its headquarters on the grounds of Leeds Bradford Airport, along with its subsidiary
Jet2holidays
Jet2holidays is a British package holiday provider and tour operator. It was formed in 2007 as a subsidiary of Dart Group PLC (now renamed Jet2 PLC), and a sister to Jet2.com, the third-largest scheduled airline in the UK. As of 2018, Jet2holi ...
. The airline operates from 10 UK bases, such as Leeds Bradford International,
Newcastle International Airport
Newcastle International Airport is an international airport in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK. Located approximately from Newcastle City Centre, it is the primary and busiest airport in North East England, and the second busiest in Northe ...
,
Edinburgh Airport
Edinburgh Airport is an airport located in the Ingliston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the busiest airport in Scotland in 2019, handling over 14.7 million passengers. It was also the sixth-busiest airport in the United Kingdom by ...
,
Manchester Airport,
Glasgow Airport
gd, Port-adhair Eadar-nàiseanta Ghlaschu
, image = Glasgow Airport logo.svg
, image-width = 200
, image2 = GlasgowAirportFromAir.jpg
, image2-width = 250
, IATA = GLA
, ICAO = EGPF
, type = Public
, owner = AGS Airports
, hub =
*eas ...
,
Belfast International Airport,
East Midlands Airport
East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () ...
,
Birmingham Airport
Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...
,
London Stansted Airport
London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London.
London Stansted serves over 160 destinations ac ...
and
Bristol Airport. They also have 3 overseas bases,
Alicante Airport
Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in th ...
,
Palma de Mallorca Airport and
Tenerife South Airport
Tenerife South Airport ( es, Aeropuerto de Tenerife Sur) , also known as Tenerife South–Reina Sofía Airport, is the larger of the two international airports located on the island of Tenerife (the other being Tenerife North Airport) and t ...
.
See also
*
Jet2.com destinations
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Companies based in Leeds
Holding companies established in 1991
Defunct shipping companies of the United Kingdom
Logistics companies of the United Kingdom
Transport in Guernsey
1991 establishments in England
Companies listed on the Alternative Investment Market
British companies established in 1991