The airline's first flight was accompanied by a flypast from a Red Arrow at Leeds Bradford Airport this morning.

Almost 50 flights are due to depart on Wednesday across seven airports in England and Scotland to destinations where travel restrictions have been eased, such as the Canaries, Balearics, mainland Spain, Turkey, Greece and Italy.

The airports served are Manchester, Birmingham, East Midlands, Leeds Bradford, Glasgow, Newcastle and London Stansted.

When Jet2.com suspended its operations on March 17 due to the coronavirus pandemic, it planned to resume them on May 1.

But the impact of the collapse in demand, and travel restrictions such as the UK Government’s quarantine policy, meant aircraft were grounded until Wednesday.

Jet2.com chief executive Steve Heapy insisted that customers are “in safe hands when they travel with us”.

He said: “We have been saying for some time that the sun will shine again and that when it does, we will be there to take customers away on their well-deserved holidays.

“That day has finally arrived and we were delighted to see our first flights take off.

“It is fantastic to be back in the air and recommencing our award-winning flights and package holidays to sunny destinations across Europe, the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands.

“These have been incredibly uncertain and difficult times for everyone, and we have been very busy looking after our customers and doing the right thing for them.

“Now we are focused on doing what we do best – delivering award winning customer service and package holidays you can trust.”

Tui restarted its holidays for UK customers on Saturday, while easyJet holidays will resume its programme on August 1.

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Jet2 recommences flights from Leeds Bradford Airport