Jet2 also announced that it would be extending its suspension of flights and package holidays to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands until September 13. It had previously suspended the resumption of its flights until the end of August. Some airlines halted their operations to mainland Spain and its surrounding islands after the country was removed from the UK’s travel corridor list at the end of July.
“Where customers are affected by any programme changes, we have been repeatedly recognised by independent travel agents for how we have handled this, and we will be automatically cancelling trade bookings with a full refund.
“To give customers more choice when it comes to booking or rebooking their Summer 20 holidays, we are today announcing thousands of new flights, representing almost 100,000 additional seats, to destinations in Greece, Turkey and Portugal.
“The demand for holidays to these destinations tells us that Summer 20 is very much alive in our customers’ minds, and our decision to increase capacity comes in direct response to that demand.
“We can assure independent travel agents, customers and our partners in the Balearic Islands that we remain completely committed to these fantastic destinations.
“Bookings for next summer are looking strong, and we cannot wait to be doing what we do best – working with hoteliers and our partners in Ibiza, Majorca and Menorca to make sure customers enjoy their well-deserved holidays.”
The airline has warned that the programme is “being constantly reviewed” so additional changes could be made.
It comes as figures for the number of people arriving in the UK by air in July dropped.
The numbers were 89 percent lower than during the same month last year.
According to the Home Office, some 1.3 million passengers flew into the UK last month compared with 11.1 million in July 2019.
But the figures do indicate a rise in demand for air travel since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The average number of monthly arrivals by air in April, May and June was below 200,000.
Gatwick Airport also announced this week that it plans to cut around 600 jobs due to the impact of the pandemic on passenger numbers.