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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Brett Gibbons & Tamlyn Jones

Jet2 and easyJet acquire Thomas Cook landing slots at UK airports

Landing slots at three UK airports previously owned by Thomas Cook have been acquired by Jet2.

The Leeds-based airline and holiday company has bought the slots at Birmingham, Manchester and Stansted airports for an undisclosed amount, according to the Official Receiver.

In a separate announcement, budget airline easyJet has bought all of Thomas Cook's landing slots at Gatwick and Bristol airports for £36 million.

There are 27 pairs of slots, including 12 summer and eight winter slots at Gatwick, and six summer and one winter slot at Bristol.

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easyJet said it would release more information later this month.

In a statement, the Official Receiver said: "This outcome has been facilitated by the collaborative approach of Thomas Cook's commercial partners at UK airports and the support of both internal and external slot co-ordinators."

Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy said: "The acquisition of these key UK airport slots will play an important role in supporting our continued growth at Birmingham, London Stansted and Manchester Airports.

"We have been adding more flights and aircraft, resulting in increased capacity, at each of these bases for many years.

"Today's announcement is the latest demonstration of our commitment to providing holidaymakers with more choice and flexibility when it comes to flying to sun, city and ski destinations with our award-winning airline."

This latest development comes less than two months after Thomas Cook entered administration since when administrators have been trying to claw back as much money as possible to address its debts.

They recently sold the Thomas Cook name for £11 million to Chinese company Fosun, the owner of Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Sunderland-based Hays Travel paid £6 million to acquire its 555 high street stores.

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