Battle · 3 companies

UK holiday airlines

Flying high, or stuck in a holding pattern?

easyJet leads on 3 of the five measures that matter most: turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin, growth and net assets. easyJet is the biggest by turnover at £10,106m, against £7,174m at Jet2. Jet2 keeps the most of every £100 it takes, £8.27 as pre-tax profit.

The year ends are up to 6 months apart, so this compares each company's most recent filing rather than the same twelve months. easyJet files group accounts that include subsidiaries; TUI files for a single company, which flatters the group on size.

Spark Intel Research Desk·Last updated 28 September 2026·Source: Companies House filed accounts

Accounts compared: easyJet to Sep 2025 · Jet2 to Mar 2025 · TUI to Sep 2025

Biggest by turnover

easyJet

£10,106m

Highest profit margin

Jet2

8.3%

Fastest-growing turnover

Jet2

+14.7%

The Numbers

#	Company	Turnover	Change	Pre-tax profit	Margin	Employees	Pay per head	Turnover per head	Net assets	Bank and cash	Accounts to	Basis
1	easyJeteasyJet PLC	£10,106m	+8.6%	£658m	6.5%	18,968	£78,000	£533,000	£3,498m	£1,504m	Sep 2025	Group
2	Jet2Jet2 PLC	£7,174m	+14.7%	£593m	8.3%	15,205	£55,000	£472,000	£1,612m	£1,187m	Mar 2025	n/d
3	TUITUI UK Limited	£6,343m	+4.1%	-£68m	-1.1%	2,870	£61,000	£2.2m	-£627m	£77m	Sep 2025	Single company

Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).

Category winners

Biggest by turnover

easyJet

£10,106m

Most pre-tax profit

easyJet

£658m

Highest profit margin

Jet2

8.3%

Fastest-growing turnover

Jet2

+14.7%

Biggest employer

easyJet

18,968 staff

Highest pay per head

easyJet

£78,000

Most turnover per head

TUI

£2.2m

Largest net assets

easyJet

£3,498m

Most cash

easyJet

£1,504m

The Takeaway

Jet2 converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £8.27 reaches pre-tax profit, against a loss of £1.07 at TUI.
easyJet is the largest on the top line, £10,106m of turnover, 1.4x Jet2's £7,174m.
Jet2 is growing fastest, turnover +14.7% on its own prior year.
easyJet is the biggest employer with 18,968 people; easyJet pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £78,000.
easyJet has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £3,498m.

Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?

Jet2 keeps the most: £8.27 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. TUI does worst, losing £1.07.

Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.

The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.

Out of every £100 of turnover

Payroll (staff costs)Financing (interest paid)Other running costsPre-tax profitLoss: the costs beyond £100

Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.

Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?

By turnover the order is easyJet (£10,106m), Jet2 (£7,174m), TUI (£6,343m).

By headcount, easyJet leads with 18,968 employees.

The comparison holds with the dates stated plainly: easyJet to Sep 2025, Jet2 to Mar 2025, TUI to Sep 2025. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.

Turnover on the latest filing

Who is growing fastest?

Jet2 grew fastest, turnover +14.7% on its own prior year, ahead of easyJet (+8.6%), TUI (+4.1%).

Turnover change on each company's own prior year

Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?

easyJet employs the most, 18,968 people, against 15,205 at Jet2.

easyJet has the highest average staff cost, about £78,000 a head; Jet2 the lowest, about £55,000.

TUI brings in the most turnover per employee, about £2.2m, against £472,000 at Jet2. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.

easyJet

18,968

employees, about £78,000 pay a head, £533,000 turnover a head, +7.5% on the year

Jet2

15,205

employees, about £55,000 pay a head, £472,000 turnover a head, +8.2% on the year

TUI

2,870

employees, about £61,000 pay a head, £2.2m turnover a head, +2.9% on the year

Who owns each one?

Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.

easyJet PLC · 03959649

Owned by its shareholders

Listed on the London Stock Exchange, so no single controller appears on the register.

Who owns easyJet →

Jet2 PLC · 01295221

Owned by its shareholders

Listed on the London Stock Exchange, so no single controller appears on the register. 12 outstanding charges on the register.

Who owns Jet2 →

TUI UK Limited · 02830117

Held by Tui Travel Holdings Limited

A company recorded as a person with significant control.

Who owns TUI →

What does the full ledger show?

Measure	easyJet	Jet2	TUI
Registered name	EASYJET PLC	JET2 PLC	TUI UK LIMITED
Company number	03959649	01295221	02830117
Incorporated	2000	1977	1993
Accounts filed	24 February 2026	11 September 2025	13 March 2026
Turnover, prior year	£9,309m	£6,255m	£6,092m
Pre-tax profit, prior year	£602m	£530m	-£61m
Staff costs	£1,475m	£831m	£174m
Payroll share of turnover	14.6%	11.6%	2.7%
Employees, prior year	17,639	14,053	2,788
Dividends paid	£91m	£32m	n/d
Charges outstanding	0	12	0

A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.

UK holiday airlines: common questions

Who is the biggest of easyJet, Jet2 or TUI?

easyJet, with turnover of £10,106m in the year to September 2025.

Which makes the most profit?

easyJet: £658m pre-tax in the year to September 2025.

Which employs the most people?

easyJet, with 18,968 employees in its latest accounts.

easyJet or Jet2: which is bigger?

easyJet, with turnover of £10,106m against £7,174m at Jet2 on their latest filings. On margin, Jet2 keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →

easyJet or TUI: which is bigger?

easyJet, with turnover of £10,106m against £6,343m at TUI on their latest filings. On margin, easyJet keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Jet2 or TUI: which is bigger?

Jet2, with turnover of £7,174m against £6,343m at TUI on their latest filings. On margin, Jet2 keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Where do these figures come from?

Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.