Originally Posted by
rog747
Good point,
as it stands today, apart from mainstream LON and MAN departures with BA Holidays and Virgin Holidays who both use their own in-house Scheduled flights, there is basically no one else apart from TUI, to book long-haul for a land based Package Holiday from a Regional, or you have to book as a ''do-it-yourself''.
There is simply no UK based long haul charter airlines/capacity left anymore, as well seen and publicly critiqued in the Travel Industry Press/Social Media in P&O Fly-Cruises Maleth Aero contract decision for LGW/MAN to BGI and ANU for their large number of winter cruise ships flights.
Jet2 Holidays may just one day, enter the Long-Haul holiday market but its fraught with difficulty; the $ USD exchange rate being one, and the volatile destinations worldwide where an attempt to plan a charter series and book accommodation contracts makes it all a huge risk which Jet2 have clearly, and wisely steered well clear of to date.
As for ''UK Regional'' Long Haul package holidayswhich is the subject of this post then Jet2 would have to think carefully -
They could do well at BRS BHX BFS and NCL in the wake of TUI reducing their own programmes, but it's always Seasonal (winter usually), and you're always faced with expensive operational costs with Crewing, Positioning flights, possible split loads, and fuel tech stops needed enroute to destination, and so on.
Also we have destination fatigue, or destination problems...
These below were all once the ''darlings'' of the charter package industrybut for whatever reason they no longer feasible, or have limited attraction.
Cuba (hotel standards and risk)
Orlando (USA is so expensive today: hotels, eating out, car hire; and although Disney etc is still attractive, the cost of a family holiday today is eye watering)
Mombasa (too risky but the Italians still go there, and they also go to ZNZ Zanzibar along with the Germans, but the Brits do not go)
Goa (fell out of favour as a winter charter package destination)
Grenada Tobago (legacy airline competition)
Maldives (accommodation too expensive for package charters and legacy airline competition)
Phuket (still massive with the Swedes and Germans, but still TUI flies in the Brits)
Gambia (still some BJL charters but not like before)
Egypt (much of is too risky)
We lament long gone Excel/XL, Monarch, and Thomas Cook but long haul did not save them.
If they were still around today then things maybe different?
Our European friends still seem to do well, Condor, Neos, Edelweiss and Sunclass all have big long-haul holiday markets but it is all Seasonal, mostly flown in the winter, so what do you do with your big wide bodies in the summer >? you use them on your peak short hauls, such as PMI HER RHO DLM AYT TFS, or to the USA and Canada.
the other issue with long haul package holidays, in the UK are tour operators/travel agents such as blue bay travel, hays Jarvis etc. 9 times out of 10 a long haul package holiday to the Caribbean or far east Asia is considered ‘exclusive’, and these tour operators can book you on BA/VS going west or via the ME3 going east. People who are paying £8k plus on a holiday are going to expect a good onboard product. Would someone who’s paid let’s say £15k to go to Barbados for two weeks and is from the north east, really be fussed about jumping on the Heathrow shuttle and flying BA vs flying TUI at less frequency and not as good product (particularly premium wise). Same for anywhere in Scotland or MAN.
That means for TUI, and Jet2 if they were to ever enter this market they are relying on loyal customers, which TUI decimated due to awful fleet planning during the aftermath of COVID, and Jet2 do have but they are only known for typical European sun and city destinations. Alternatively they are relying on the price sensitive customers who it’s maybe a stretch for them to go let’s say to cancun or the Dominican instead of the canaries one year so they want the best deal possible, so you’re scraping around for the low returns. And the only way to make lower returns work is higher volume, which neither TUI or Jet2 can or should want to offer.