Leisure airline Jet2.com is set to make the most popular island in the Canaries even more accessible to the British market by offering a 15.7% seat increase to Tenerife in 2012.

Jet2.com’s increased availability will complement the airline’s existing flights to Tenerife from Manchester, Blackpool, East Midlands, Newcastle, Leeds Bradford and Glasgow, and will further cement Tenerife’s position as the number one destination in the Canaries for British travellers.

The short-haul airline’s seat increase follows an incredible year for the island, with 2011 on track to be a record year for tourist arrivals from the UK. Last year, approximately 1.5 million British holidaymakers visited Tenerife and recent figures are showing an increase of 12% in 2011. Further great news is that October this year saw record numbers from the UK market, with particularly strong increases in families and couples.

The Tenerife Tourism Corporation has been working closely with Jet2.com to market Tenerife’s wide appeal and unrivalled diversity. While the island’s year-round sunshine and superb, family-friendly beaches have always been extremely popular with travellers from the UK, more and more travellers are beginning to discover that there is much more to the island than just winter sun beach holidays.

The recently-announced additional flight capacity to Tenerife follows hot on the heels of Jet2.com being named best airline for the Canary Islands by Which?, while Spain scooped most-visited country for Which? members and UK holidaymakers in general.

Ian Doubtfire, managing director at Jet2.com, comments: “Tenerife is the most popular destination in the Canaries for the UK market. With Jet2.com’s additional seat capacity from next month, the island is becoming more accessible than ever to British travellers – and we are confident that our new joint advertising campaign in 2012 will ensure that the upward trend can be maintained in the New Year and beyond.”