Next Saturday, it will be exactly 20 years that tour operator Jetair is flying from Ostend airport. On May 14, 1996, the first Jetair flight (operated by Sobelair) left from Ostend to Alicante and Mallorca. Jetair today operates three to four flights daily from Ostend with its own airline Jetairfly. Travellers on the jubilee flight to Alicante next Saturday will receive flowers.
Twenty years ago Jetair began its Ostend flight programme with a flight from Ostend to Alicante. Also on Saturday, May 14th the same flight is scheduled on the programme (departing in Ostend at 06.05). Travellers who fly next Saturday to Alicante will also be pampered. On board they can enjoy champagne and before check-in there is a birthday celebration. Incidentally, winners of the ’20 years Jetair in Ostend ‘ contest will also be sitting on board. They have won their trip through a contest that ran last month on the website of Jetair.
Jetair has been continuously present at the Ostend airport for 20 years. Over the past two decades, the tour operator has expanded its programme systematically. Today Jetairfly operates weekly flights from Ostend to 16 destinations. Two Boeing 737 aircraft (with a capacity of 189 and 165 seats) operate full time from Ostend to carry out most of these flights. Jetairfly connects various destinations, including Alicante and Malaga, up to four times a week with Ostend.
Five interesting facts about 20 years Jetair – Ostend airport:
1. Six countries. In the year 2016 Jetair connects six countries and 16 destinations to Ostend airport: Bulgaria (Burgas and Varna), France (Nice), Greece (Kos, Crete and Rhodes), Italy (Rome), Spain (Alicante, Barcelona, Gran Canaria, Malaga, Mallorca and Tenerife) and Turkey (Antalya, Bodrum and Izmir) .
2. Spain at number 1. With Alicante, Malaga, Mallorca and Tenerife, mainland Spain, the Balearics and the Canaries have four places in the top 5, with Antalya (Turkey) the fifth one.
3. More than beach. Not only the number of destinations and flight frequencies increased over the years, but also the type of destinations. Traditionally Jetair and Jetairfly flew to beach holiday destinations from Ostend. Since last year, Jetair also introduced city trips. Now you can fly with Jetairfly to Barcelona, Rome and Nice. Barcelona is even one of the fastest growing destinations.
4. An exceptional diversion operation. After the attacks of March 22, 2016 and the closing of Brussels Airport, Jetair and Jetairfly had to divert their flight operations. Jetair organised the Easter exodus from Ostend airport. The result of 41 days of redirection was the biggest disaster recovery operation in the history of the tour operator. As many as 105,000 passengers and 754 flights were diverted to Ostend.
5. More and more successful. Yet each year additional travellers discover the benefits of flying from Ostend. They appreciate above all that Ostend is easily accessible, has a human scale and is stress free. The number of Jetair travellers in Ostend rose by 18 percent in 2015 compared to the previous year, to a record 268,000. In the past 20 years 2,311,488 Jetair travellers flew from and to Ostend airport.
Press Release May 12, 2016
