Jet2holidays, the UK tour operator, along with leisure airline company Jet2.com, has said that there has been an immediate rise in bookings to Greece and Cyprus following reports that holidaymakers will be able to travel to both destinations this summer.
Following the UK Prime Minister’s announcement of an exit roadmap from lockdown, data from Jet2.com and Jet2holidays showed that bookings to Cyprus increased by another 200 percent. The increase also came after Deputy Minister of Tourism for Cyprus said that UK nationals who have been vaccinated will be able to travel to Cyprus this summer.
Jet2.com and Jet2holidays will fly to 14 destinations in Greece this summer, after registering strong demand to popular Greek islands such as Corfu, Crete, Kefalonia, Rhodes and Zante as well as Santorini, Skiathos and Halkidiki. The companies recently added more flights and holidays to Zante, Crete (Heraklion), Rhodes and Kefalonia, extending the Summer 2021 season and providing customers with more choice.
In addition, the companies operate flights and holidays to Larnaca and Paphos in Cyprus, with bookings data showing a significant increase in families booking holidays.
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays said: ‘The UK is the most advanced country in Europe when it comes to successfully rolling out a vaccine, so we applaud the Greek and Cypriot governments for their forward-thinking decisions. This, on the back of the recent announcement by the UK government, gives customers great confidence that they can get away to enjoy the sunshine this summer and the numbers show that this confidence is increasing all the time.’
‘We are very pleased that the government has shown a clear ambition to reopen international travel in the coming months, and we look forward to more detail in due course. Throughout the pandemic, we have done absolutely everything to look after our valued customers and we have always said that the sun will shine for them once again. We know what an incredibly difficult time it has been for everyone, and we very much look forward to taking everyone from our rainy islands to their dream holiday choice this summer and beyond.’
The UK government had announced that travel will not return until May 17 at the earliest, so Jet2.com and Jet2holidays have suspended flights and holidays up to and including May 16, it said.