Jet2 Reports Record Passenger Numbers and Announces £250m Share Buyback

Jet2 has turned in a solid set of full-year results. Revenue and passenger numbers both hit record levels, the business kept more than £2.0 billion of net cash on hand, and management has unveiled another £250 million share buyback. That is the good news.

The less shiny bit is that profits slipped. Operating profit fell 2% to £439.6 million and profit before taxation dropped 7% to £551.0 million, showing that Jet2 is growing, but it is having to work harder and spend more to do it.

Jet2 full year results 2026: the key numbers retail investors need to know

Metric	2026	2025	Change
Revenue	£7,482.1 million	£7,173.5 million	4%
Operating profit	£439.6 million	£446.5 million	(2%)
Profit before taxation	£551.0 million	£593.2 million	(7%)
Net cash	£2,012.9 million	£2,017.9 million	Flat
Basic EPS	211.2p	213.1p	(1%)
Final dividend	12.4p	12.1p	2%
Flown passengers	20.83 million	19.77 million	5%
New buyback announced	£250 million	Not disclosed	New

Record Jet2 passenger numbers show demand is still strong

The headline operational takeaway is simple – people are still booking holidays. Jet2 grew flown passenger numbers by 5% to 20.83 million, helped by an 8% increase in seat capacity to 24.00 million.

Flight-only passengers were especially strong, up 15% to 7.64 million. Package holiday customers edged up 1% to 6.62 million, which is less exciting on the surface, but still matters because package holidays remain the core of the model, representing 63.3% of total flown passengers.

That package-heavy mix is important because package holidays are typically more controllable and more resilient than pure seat sales. Jet2 owns the customer relationship end-to-end, from flight to hotel to transfer, which tends to support margins and repeat bookings.

Jet2 profit slips as Gatwick launch, SAF costs and employment taxes bite

This is where the story gets more nuanced. Revenue rose 4% to £7,482.1 million, but operating expenses rose faster, up 5% to £7,042.5 million. In plain English, Jet2 sold more, but it cost more to deliver those sales.

Management called out three specific pressures. First, £11.0 million of startup investment for the new London Gatwick base. Second, around £50 million of cost increases from employment taxes and Sustainable Aviation Fuel, or SAF, premiums. SAF is cleaner aviation fuel mandated by regulation, but right now it is more expensive.

Staff costs climbed to £913.6 million from £841.8 million, helped by pay rises, a larger workforce and higher National Insurance costs. Landing, navigation and third-party handling costs also rose 9% to £600.5 million, while maintenance costs increased 10% to £192.8 million.

There was one helpful offset. Carbon costs fell 21% to £91.8 million, and fuel costs improved 1% to £728.9 million, helped by lower jet fuel swap rates and better efficiency from the growing Airbus A321neo fleet.

London Gatwick expansion could be a genuine growth engine for Jet2

The most interesting strategic development here is Gatwick. Jet2 only launched there in late March 2026 with an initial six-aircraft operation, so the financial hit has landed before much of the revenue benefit has had time to come through.

Management says performance is already ahead of initial expectations, with a better-than-expected package holiday mix. That matters because it suggests Jet2’s brand and proposition can travel beyond its traditional northern strongholds and win in the South of England, where household penetration is still much lower.

Jet2 now expects to operate seven aircraft at Gatwick in Summer 2027. If that goes well, investors may look back on this year as one where the company deliberately accepted a short-term drag on profit to open a bigger long-term runway for growth.

Jet2 cash pile and £250 million share buyback strengthen the investment case

This is the part income and capital return investors will like. Jet2 ended the year with total cash and money market deposits of £3,292.5 million and net cash of £2,012.9 million. That is a chunky liquidity position for any business, never mind an airline and tour operator.

During the year, Jet2 returned £363.0 million to shareholders through buybacks and dividends. Now it is adding another £250 million on-market share buyback, expected to complete by 31 May 2027, with the shares intended to be cancelled.

Share cancellation matters because it reduces the number of shares in issue, which can lift earnings per share over time. In a market where many companies talk a good game on capital allocation, Jet2 is actually handing cash back while still investing in growth.

Why Jet2 earnings quality still looks decent despite lower profit before tax

One thing worth noting is that the drop in profit before tax was not just about weak trading. Net financing income fell to £91.2 million from £120.9 million because lower interest rates meant Jet2 earned less on its large cash balances.

That is not ideal, but it is a very different problem from demand collapsing. In fact, EBITDA, which is a measure of underlying operating cash profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, rose 1% to £746.3 million. Operating cash flow was still a healthy £886.6 million.

Free cash flow came in at £495.4 million. That is down from £659.1 million last year, but still strong enough to cover capital expenditure, dividends and buybacks.

Jet2 Summer 2026 outlook: strong bookings, better load factors, cautious optimism

The outlook statement reads well. Summer 2026 on-sale capacity is 7.7% ahead of Summer 2025 at 19.9 million seats, booked-to-date passengers are up 7.1%, and the average load factor for the first four months is 1.2 percentage points ahead of last year.

Jet2 also says reduced geopolitical uncertainty has improved booking momentum in recent weeks. That is encouraging, especially after management noted that Middle East conflict had pushed customers towards later booking patterns earlier in the period.

There is still a balancing act here. Average load factor for the full year fell to 86.8% from 88.7%, and flight-only ticket yield per passenger sector dropped 7% to £110.92 as Jet2 used targeted pricing to fill seats. So the company is clearly prioritising volume and market share in newer regions, rather than squeezing every last pound from ticket prices.

My view on the Jet2 RNS: positive overall, but not a flawless set of results

I think this announcement lands on the positive side. Record revenue, record passenger numbers, a successful Gatwick launch, strong cash generation and a fresh £250 million buyback is a good combination.

That said, this is not a blowout profit story. Margins are under pressure, package holiday growth was modest, and management is having to absorb higher regulatory and labour costs. Investors should also keep an eye on whether pricing remains competitive enough to support load factors without eroding profitability too much.

Still, Jet2 looks like a business making a conscious choice: spend now, expand smartly, keep the balance sheet strong and return excess cash along the way. For retail investors, that is a much more attractive setup than an airline chasing growth with a stretched balance sheet and no room for error.

In short, Jet2 is still flying in the right direction. Just do not mistake a strong operational year for a perfect one.