Dart Group to add further capacity, change name to Jet2

Dart Group announced plans on Thursday to change its name to Jet2, as it said it will continue to add capacity for the rest of Summer 2020.

The company, which sold its Fowler Welch distribution and logistics business earlier this year, said that after grounding its fleet in mid-March due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it has gradually ramped up its summer flying to around 40% of planned destinations for August.

Executive chairman Philip Meeson said: "Whilst there have been setbacks, such as the imposition of quarantines and evolving guidance from the UK Government, we have been satisfied with the average load factors and financial contribution achieved to date and will continue to add further capacity, as appropriate, for the remainder of Summer 2020, supported by our quick to market, flexible operating model."

Dart said Winter 20/21 forward bookings have yet to match its revised on-sale seat capacity, with customer bookings displaying a shorter lead time than in previous years. As a result, pricing for both its leisure travel products "will need to remain consistently enticing".

For Summer 2021, the company plans to fly to all of its popular leisure destinations with an "appropriate, tailored level of service", which it expects will be close to summer 2019 seat capacity levels.

The group said bookings to date are encouraging, with average load factors ahead of this time last year and a rise in package holiday customer numbers as a proportion of total departing customers.

Dart said that following the sale of Fowler Welch, it has applied to Companies House to change its name to Jet2 to reflect "the continued focus on its longer-term strategy of growing its leisure travel business".

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Dart is more optimistic about next summer’s booking as it seems people are more confident about flying next summer than any time this year. There will be a mixture of people who have shifted their 2020 summer booking back a year and others who simply feel they deserve a few weeks in the sun in a foreign country after being confined to their home this year in lockdown.

"That suggests it will continue to be a waiting game for airlines, challenging their financial ability to stay afloat until life starts to return to normal."