A St Helens family have been gifted a Jet2holiday to celebrate the first flights from Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Lindsey Smith from St Helens was announced as the lucky winner shortly before the inaugural flight took off and was surprised with a free family holiday to Tenerife.

Lindsay, who was travelling on the inaugural flight to Tenerife with her family, was surprised onboard the aircraft when she was announced as the lucky winner of a holiday by Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays.

The holiday entitles Lindsey, her partner and two children to a complimentary 7-night break with Jet2holidays to the Paradise Park Fun Lifestyle Hotel in Tenerife.

The surprise was part of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays’ celebrations to mark their first flight taking off from Liverpool John Lennon Airport – their 11th UK base airport.

To mark the important milestone, the airline and tour operator held a morning of celebration, with customers and colleagues joining in.

Lindsey said: “I am delighted to be named the lucky winner of a holiday to Tenerife and to have been on Jet2.com and Jet2holidays’ first flight from Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

“What a fantastic way to start a holiday, and I cannot wait to book my next sunshine break to Tenerife using the holiday voucher.

“I would like to say a big thank you to Jet2.com and Jet2holidays and look forward to travelling on my next holiday with them from Liverpool John Lennon Airport.”

Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, said: “We have got off to a flying start in every sense at Liverpool John Lennon Airport and are delighted to see our first flight take off from our 11th UK base airport.

“We are very excited to be bringing our family friendly ethos, great value package holidays and award-winning customer service to new customers across Merseyside and are pleased to celebrate this by surprising one of our customers with a complimentary family getaway.

“Congratulations to Lindsey for winning a holiday to Tenerife, and we look forward to welcoming her onboard with us again.”

As well as gifting Lindsey a holiday, 100s of holidaymakers travelling on the inaugural flight were treated to a VIP customer experience, including a red-carpet welcome and personalised gifts.

As customers waited to board the first flight, a Beatles tribute band called The Beatles for Sale entertained them at an exclusive launch event, and the first ten holidaymakers to check-in at the airport were surprised with a pair of Jet2.com flight vouchers.

For further information and to book visit jet2.com or jet2holidays.com