Heapy confirmed there was a later booking curve this year due mainly to the Iran conflict, with the heatwave and ongoing Fifa World Cup also playing a part.

He added that while there was “still a long way to go”, he did not believe it would be an extraordinary summer when it came to late sales.

“I think people describing it as exceptional is probably getting a little bit carried away," he said on Wednesday (8 July) as Jet2 published its results for the year to the end of March.

"There is a strong lates market; I would not describe it as exceptional,” he added.

Jet2’s summer 2026 capacity is up by 7.7% at 19.9 million seats. Heapy admitted: “We have to work hard to get people to commit – it is price sensitive.”

However, he added: “We are 1.2% up on load factors for the first four months [April-July]. In our opinion, it is a great result.”

More: Jet2 ramping up focus on its app, digital marketing and social media

Heapy said there had been a “booking rebound” following the pause in the Middle East conflict. This, he said, had been stronger in destinations like Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria and north Africa.. “I think confidence has improved.”

Heapy said Europe’s heatwave was having “no impact”, saying clients preferred the dry continental heat and welcomed the opportunity to stay in air conditioned rooms.

Looking back at last year, Jet2 saw growth in flight-only bookings outstrip that of packages. Flight-only grew by 15% to 7.64 million, while packages rose just by  1% to 6.62 million. Jet2’s average package price rose by 3% to £900, but seat-only fell from £118.91 to £110.92 per sector.

Jet2 said this reflected “targeted pricing actions”.

Heapy said he was not concerned by this, adding the brand in the past “probably did not seize the flight-only opportunity as we should”.

“A lot of flight-only customers are brand new to the business, it’s a great nursery programme for the future holiday business,” Heapy continued. "It helps to fill the aircraft. I am sure they will book with us again."

Jet2 added 8% more seats last year, putting 24 million on sale. Half of the growth came from new bases at Luton and Bournemouth.

The operator opened a base at Gatwick in March 2026, and plans to base an additional aircraft there next summer, making a total of seven.

Jet2 also paid out record commission to agents over the past year of £187.4 million, up 2% on last year's £184.5 million. However, growth in agent commission paid was significantly lower than the previous year, when Jet2 paid out 11% more commission, going up from £166.9 million to £184.5 million.