Jet2.com to create almost 1,000 new jobs

The airline Jet2.com says it will create almost 1,000 new jobs as part of a recruitment drive.

It wants to hire 180 pilots, 700 cabin crew and more than 80 engineers across the country as part of the firm's expansion.

The company plans to hold road shows to fill the positions, starting in Leeds in September.

Jet2 operates from eight UK airports, with a fleet of 63 aircraft, and flies to around 220 destinations.

It flies from Belfast, Birmingham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Manchester and Newcastle.

"Our family-friendly formula is clearly working with customers and it means that we're one of the UK's fastest growing airlines," said Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays.

"We have exciting plans to expand the number of destinations we fly to, as well as the number of UK bases we fly from, and this means that our team is growing all the time too."

The company was recently in the news after it was forced to divert a flight because of a drunken passenger on board. The customer has been banned for life by the airline and was jailed for six months.