Manchester-HQ’d Citypress has been appointed to a wide-ranging PR brief spanning Jet2holidays, the UK’s largest tour operator, and Jet2.com, the UK’s third largest airline.
The appointment brings an end to Jet2’s 20-year relationship with outgoing agency, and fellow Leeds business, Gold79.
Citypress will work alongside Jet2’s in-house team, which handles the holiday giant’s internal PR operations alongside its in-house press office, led by James Pieslak (General Manager – Press Office) and Naomi Underwood (Press Office Manager), and will support consumer campaigns, day-to-day press office, crisis and issues management, communications strategy and trade PR, while “bringing fresh creative thinking to one of the UK’s best-loved travel brands.”
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Charles Tattersall, executive chairman at Citypress, said: “Jet2 has built one of the strongest customer relationships in UK travel, and has a reputation for putting people first. Our job is to find fresh ways to reinforce that, to bring more people to the brand and to support Jet2’s growth.”
The agency described the appointment on social media as “a brilliant new partnership for the Citypress Travel and Leisure team. We can’t wait to get started on this journey.”
Jet2 currently flies from 14 UK airports, including Manchester, Leeds/Bradford and Newcastle, to more than 75 destinations across Europe and beyond. Since its first flight in 2003, it has grown its fleet to around 140 aircraft, a mix of mostly Boeing 737 and Airbus A321/neo models, and now has 155 new Airbus A321neo aircraft on order over the next decade.
Sister brand Jet2holidays was confirmed as the UK’s largest tour operator in 2023 and carries almost six million passengers every year in partnership with its sister airline and under parent brand Jet2 plc.
More than the sheer scale of the company, the brand has become a household name in large part thanks to its viral “Nothing beats a Jet2 Holiday” campaign (and right now you can save £50 per person, that’s £200 off for a family of four), which as well as cementing the brand in social media lore – even the White House bought into the hype – gave a second wind to the careers of Hollyoaks actress Zoë Lister, who voices the ads, and Jess Glynne, whose “Hold My Hand” provides the soundtrack.
