Flying programme expansion Summer 2016.
Will the flying programme expansion maintain the fleet additions that have been seen recently?
Looking at the fleet expansion to date, since the 8th of January 2011 until 23rd of April 2015, there have been 26 aircraft additions to the JET2 fleet and only two aircraft have been retired. The yearly average expansion is in the region of 6 aircraft. The B738NG made their first appearance in 1998 and there are a good number available on the second hand market now and many more will become available as time passes and even more so, when the B738MAX becomes available. JET2 shouldn’t find any difficulties in finding suitably priced B738s.
Although JET2 are running a Boeing fleet they do have a mixed fleet, since the aircraft types are different. With this in mind an order for newly manufatured aircraft, as rumoured, would make sense. Their best bet would be, as has been suggested, to go for the Airbus 320NEO and the Airbus 321NEO, particularly if the order comes off the back of the Norwegian order of 100 units placed with Airbus in 2011. The A320NEO can be configured with 189 seats in a one class layout and the A321NEO can be configured with 200 seats on a one class layout. This would marry well with the B738s and the B752s in the present fleet. Also the Airbus aircraft could be delivered as from 2018/19, which is in time to replace some of the much older aircraft that JET2 would need to retire. The question here is whether Norwegian are prepared to hand over the rights of part of their order to JET2 and at the keen price they would have negotiated at the time with Airbus or for what commission could the deal be sealed? It is well known that both Airbus and Boeing will reduce the price list of their aircraft considerably on large orders and if JET2 had the advantage of such prices, they could seek loans for their purchase that would beat any leasing costs. This would help cover the costs of having the aircraft under-utilised in the winter months.
The other possibility of ordering newly manufatured B738MAXs would seem to be out of the question, since the orders are now hovering around the 3,000 mark, which means delivery would be in about 6 years.
Obviously the option that would appear to be on the table, since there has been no announcement of any order of new aircraft from Airbus, is to maintain the acquisition of second hand B738s and slowly replace the B733s and B752s as and when they need to be retired.