Bournemouth airport set for 2025 fares war as Jet2 moves in

Only two routes – to Fuerteventura and Madeira – face no competition, with Ryanair and Tui already established at the Dorset gateway

Bournemouth bound: Jet2 aircraft taking off from Tenerife, the first destination from the Dorset airport

(Getty Images)

Bournemouth airport is set to become the location for intense competition between airlines. Jet2 has announced the Dorset airport will become its 12th UK base from next spring.

Jet2 will deploy two aircraft on a range of Mediterranean and Atlantic island routes.

The inaugural flight from Bournemouth to Tenerife on 1 April 2025, will be followed by 15 other new links – almost all of which are already flown by other carriers, Tui and Ryanair. It signals intensified competition against Tui – which Jet2 Holidays overtook in terms of package passengers last year.

The only two Jet2 routes with no competition are Fuerteventura in Spain’s Canary Islands and Funchal, Madeira.

On four of the routes – Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Palma and Tenerife – the new arrival will compete with both Ryanair and Tui.

Other Jet2 links are up against Tui competition:

• Antalya and Dalaman in Turkey
• Corfu, Heraklion, Rhodes and Zante in Greece
• Ibiza and Menorca in Spain’s Balearic islands

In addition, Jet2 will take on Ryanair to Alicante and Faro.

Jet2’s chief executive, Steve Heapy, said: “We know that customers and independent travel agents have been asking us for a long time to make this move, so we are absolutely delighted to be announcing today that Bournemouth airport will become our 12th UK base airport.

“As Which? Travel Brand of the Year, we know that our award-winning flights and holidays will be enormously popular across the region, and we cannot wait to show everyone what we are all about.”

“This latest expansion is a further demonstration of our confidence, and it reflects our long-term strategy to be the UK’s leading and best leisure travel business. We know that customers want to be properly looked after throughout their holiday experience.”

Bournemouth airport handled fewer than one million passengers last year, placing it 18th in the table for UK gateways. Manchester airport, a big Jet2 base, handles 30 times as many travellers.

Andrew Bell, chief executive of Regional and City Airports, which owns Bournemouth airport, said: “It will create new employment locally, add 16 fabulous new destinations from Bournemouth, up to 27 extra flights a week and will see an estimated additional 300,000 passengers using their local airport.

“This exciting partnership with Jet2 and Jet2holidays represents a step-change in establishing Bournemouth airport as a nationally significant regional hub for passenger air operations.”

The aviation schedule analyst, Sean Moulton, said: “Following Jet2’s expansion into London Stansted in 2017 and Bristol in 2021, the south has been a growing market for Jet2.

“Whilst Bournemouth will be the smallest of Jet2’s 12 bases, it will go head to head with Tui on several routes. Just two of the 16 routes being exclusive to Jet2 at Bournemouth demonstrates Jet2’s desire to compete head to head with Tui and to a certain extent Ryanair.

“If successful, this could lead to several smaller bases being opened up across the UK.”