'A momentous day' - Jet2 launches first flight from London Gatwick in ‘big boost’ for the local economy

A full Flight LS1377 to Tenerife took off on time on Thursday morning full of excited passengers - and the boarding announcement was made by a very famous voice.

Zoe Lister, who is known for her voice over on the ‘Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday’ adverts, was on hand to meet and greet passengers and make announcements.

The launch marked a big day for both Jet2.com and London Gatwick airport - a partnership that has been in the pipeline for years, according to Jet2 CEO Steve Heapy.

“It's taken years because Gatwick's a very busy airport,” he said. “It's hard to get slots.

“The opportunity came along last year after some infrastructure work that had been done. It created slots. “We spoke to the airport and we've got a six aircraft operation and hopefully it will grow from here on.”

And Mr Heapy revealed at the launch there will be more routers coming in the summer of 2027. He said: “We're putting more flights on. We'll have another aircraft in here, so we'll go from 29 destinations to 34 destinations in summer 2017 and 22 destinations in the winter as well. So it's something for everyone.”

Mr Heapy also highlighted the impact it will have on the local economy. “We've created over 300 jobs here from our announcement today. That's direct jobs, but obviously there's indirect jobs as well.

“There'll be more people coming here, more people eating in the airport, etc, so I think it's going to be really good for the economy. It's a big boost. I think the UK economy needs whatever boost it can get at the moment.”

Jet2.com marks another airline at London Gatwick and there is more new airlines that are going to be announced this year, as well as new routes the likes of British Airways and Singapore Airlines.

And Jonathan Pollard, Chief Commercial Officer at London Gatwick, is delighted to have Jet2 on board and added having so much competition at the airport is good.

“It's a massive day for the airport,” he said. “It's something that we've been really looking forward to for a long time.

“Jet 2 will fit in perfectly here at the airport. They're going on all of the strong markets that have always been so successful and I think you can see the buzz within the terminal here today, with the passengers, with the staff, this is a momentous day for London Gatwick.”

He added: “We've got eight new airlines that are launching this year. We're all about choice. We want to give as much choice in terms of networks, in terms of airlines, in terms of price and so the more carriers that we can bring in, the more new markets, is a really good thing for us and for the travelling public as well.

“There's a feeling of growth of buoyancy here at the airport at the moment and it's fantastic.”

The airport is currently awaiting the decision from the High Court regarding their second runway plans one one person who backs the application is the Jet2 CEO.

Mr Heapy said: “It's at capacity. People want to get away and go on holiday, and I think everybody has the right to do that.

“You know, our customers, they work 50, 51 weeks a year in a job and they want to get away on holiday and I think constraining capacity or ever-increasing taxes on the airline industry is not right because if that continues, then flying will become something for the rich and privileged and that's not right.

“Everybody should have the right to have a flight or a holiday.”