Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast with me Simon Calder.

I've been talking to the chief executive of Jet 2 and Jet 2 holidays.

That's Steve Heepie.

He's just announced a very significant expansion for the company,

opening a base at Liverpool John Lennon Airport from spring next year

with a big network of holiday flights. Yet given that Jet 2 already has a significant presence

at Manchester Airport, just 24 miles away as the crow flies, why would the firm want to open a separate base?

Quite simple, Simon, customer demand from people that live in the catchment area that

currently travel from Liverpool, that want to experience one of our products, from perhaps

some of our customers that travel to other airports, from the airport themselves, and, of course,

from our independent travel agent partners in the

catchment area that want to provide people with one of our flight or holiday products.

So we've had this level of demand for a long time and now we feel the time is right to serve

that demand.

But you will know far better than me how Tui plans to expand

in 2024. I imagine that EasyJet holidays might have some sort of competitive response. And so what would

you say someone, and I know that you're a young man, Steve, but what would you say someone old like me who

says, oh, this reminds me you say someone old like me who says,

oh, this reminds me of the 1990s with the ridiculous market share battles between

Airtors and Thompson and First Choice and Thomas Cook.

It would be a valid comment, but in those periods you had the rise of self-packaging, etc.

And that seems to be reducing at the moment.

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