Jet2 boss pledges to ‘provide affordable holidays for hard-working people’ at Labour Party Conference

By Lisa James
25/09/2024
Home » Jet2 boss pledges to ‘provide affordable holidays for hard-working people’ at Labour Party Conference

Jet2 CEO Steve Heapy has promised ‘hard-working people’ will continue to get affordable holidays, at a fringe event at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

Steve co-hosted the event with Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin, which discussed how to deliver economic growth across the UK.

He said Jet2 shares the same desire as the new Government to achieve the highest sustained growth in the G7, supporting initiatives such as making work pay, kick-starting a skills revolution and backing British business.

But he warned that more industry regulation and tax burdens would mean travel would only be possible for the ‘rich and privileged’.

It’s the first time Jet2 has held a party conference event and Steve used the event to outline the company’s first manifesto for growth.

The manifesto not only promises affordable holidays for hard-working people but also supports getting Britain building again by investing in a sustainable aviation fuel industry; backing British business by investing further in engineering and training facilities across the north; kick-starting a skills revolution by funding apprenticeships and continuing to donate unused apprenticeship levy to charities and travel businesses; and making work pay, including being a responsible employer, providing good salaries and generous benefit packages.

Steve said: “Jet2 is a proven British success story which takes millions of hard-working Brits on holiday every year, employs over 15,000 people in fantastic careers across the UK, and continues to invest into our operations to power up Britain. We are uniquely positioned to help the new Government deliver growth across the UK and it was great to host this event and enjoy positive discussions at the Conference around how to achieve this.

“By putting economic stability first and ruling out the introduction of additional demand management measures, the Government can help continue to deliver joy to holidaymakers whilst providing certainty and opportunity to investors in British business too.

“The introduction of more regulatory and tax burdens on our industry would not only impact consumer demand, making travel an activity for the rich and privileged, but it would also impact the ability of our sector to contribute to the economic growth of the UK.”

He added Jet2 is ‘leading the way’ in its investment in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

“The new Government has made positive noises about SAF, and we urge them to seize this huge opportunity right now, as by doing so they can drive economic growth right across the UK,” Steve added.

A Jet2 spokesperson told Travel Gossip: “As the UK’s largest holiday tour operator and only airline based in northern England, Jet2 is uniquely positioned to help the new Government deliver economic growth, and we feel it is important that we set out our plan to achieve that.”

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