Jet2 has seen its profit before tax increase by 43% in the year to 31 March, to stand at £529.5m.

The airline and package holiday firm also saw its revenue increase by 24% to £6.25bn, while its operating profit jumped by 9% to £428m in the same period.

The firm said that the results are due to the "popularity" of its holiday products, with its total flown passengers growing by 9% to 17.7 million.

Non-executive chairman, Robin Terrell, said: "It was a challenging year for UK consumers with rising inflation and elevated interest rates putting pressure on disposable income levels. However, against this backdrop we made further progress on our growth strategy, delivering record passenger numbers, revenues and profitability and strengthening our balance sheet to underpin future growth and provide financial resilience and flexibility."

Looking ahead, Jet2 stated that it is "extremely pleased" with how its business has performed in the two years since the COVID pandemic, with its business having nearly doubled on its pre-pandemic revenue.

The firm said that following the “successful” opening of its new Liverpool Airport base, it is expecting to start operations at Bournemouth Airport from February 2025.

It added that its summer 2024 on sale seat capacity has increased 12.3% year-on-year, but said that it "remains mindful of the current macro-economic and geopolitical environments".

Furthermore, it said that its business is trading in line with management expectations and given the late booking profile and the peak summer month of July, August and September not yet complete, along with the majority of the coming winter seat capacity still to sell, it "remains premature" to provide guidance for the current financial year.

Investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, added: "When the weather is as poor as it has been in the UK, it’s no wonder the public have been eager to fly to brighter climates. Jet2’s results tick a lot of the right boxes – revenue, profit and dividends are all up and it flew a record number of passengers. Consumers continue to do everything they can to have a week or two away on holiday, even if that means cutbacks elsewhere.

"That’s the good news, now the bad. Travel demand is solid but consumers remain reluctant to book too far ahead. Last-minute bookings typically mean airlines have to fight on price to fill their planes or holiday packages. Jet2 has managed to push up its summer 2024 prices, but they don’t fully offset cost increases.

"As ever, it falls on the Bank of England to start cutting interest rates before consumers are going to feel more confident with their finances and spending patterns evolve. Jet2 is doing all it can in the meantime, namely focusing on good customer service levels, investing in more aircraft, expanding its airport network and building more capacity to maintain its fleet."

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