Shares in Jet2 (JET2:AIM) flew 1.6% higher to £14.78 as the market responded positively to the airline and package holidays provider's strong late booking momentum in July and August which helped lift on sale seat capacity for summer 2024 to 17.17 million seats, up 12.4% from last summer.

In a trading update ahead of the firm's annual general meeting, the company said September customer numbers were looking promising with strong late booking momentum.

Booked-to-date package holiday customers were up by 8%, representing 70.2% of total departing passengers, with flight-only passengers increasing by 17%.

‘The continued demand momentum has served to offset softer flight-only net ticket yields, although package holiday pricing remains resilient and continues to show a modest increase on last year,’ said the company.

LAST-MINUTE LARRY

In July, the airline and package holidays provider expressed caution about the spending habits of their passengers who are more ‘last-minute Larry than book-ahead Betty,’ says Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

‘There is no end in sight for this booking trend and so it’s uncertain how many bums on seats it will eventually get for the final few months of its summer season and for its winter period.’

However, Mould believes that the bulk of the summer season has been good for Jet2, with a bump in packaged holiday customers helping to offset lower ticket prices for flight-only travellers.

DISCLAIMER: Financial services company AJ Bell referenced in this article owns Shares magazine. The author of this article (Sabuhi Gard) and the editor (Martin Gamble) own shares in AJ Bell.

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