The boss of Jet2 has said demand for summer holidays has returned as concerns over the war in the Middle East start to ease. 

Bookings for destinations including Turkey, Cyprus, some of the Eastern Greek Islands, Bulgaria, parts of North Africa - which were hit due to the conflict - have risen in recent weeks after a US-Iran ceasefire, the firm said. 

The industry had previously warned that worries over jet fuel supply and the war's impact on the wider economy had deterred holidaymakers.

Jet2 admitted that a trend of consumers booking their holidays closer to the departure date was continuing.

'Reduced geopolitical uncertainty has led to strong booking momentum in recent weeks, supported by targeted price investment,' it said. 

Economists had warned consumers have been worried about rising ticket costs as the price of oil accelerated after the war broke out in late February.

However, Jet2 said booked passenger numbers for this summer were currently 7.1 per cent higher than last summer. Both its package holidays and flight-only deals have seen positive growth.

It has increased the number of seats on sale for this summer by 7.7 per cent to 19.9million.

And boss Steve Heapy said he believed many holidaymakers were holding back on making a decision but would in the coming weeks. 

He said many people were still waiting to ‘see what perhaps will happen with the conflict they want to get the World Cup out of the way. And then I think they'll look at committing, so I'm pretty comfortable with where we are going forward.’

He said that all destinations have seen increased demand, but those closer to the conflict-hit region have ‘rebounded the most in percentage terms.’

Other travel companies had reported earlier this year that demand has also shifted away from Eastern Mediterranean destinations, including Turkey, Cyprus and Egypt, towards the Western Mediterranean, such as Spain and Malta.

And despite cost of living pressures, Heapy said that over the past year the group had ‘taken more people on holiday than ever before, showing how much the British public value their hard-earned holidays.’ 

Heapy also urged the next Prime Minister to refrain from treating the aviation sector as a ‘cash cow’ as the group paid £50million in extra annual costs due to higher employment taxes and sustainable aviation fuel premiums. 

‘Don't treat the aviation or holiday industry as a cash cow, because taxes increase the price of flying,' he said. 

‘I'm sure the last thing the current and future Prime Ministers want is to price people out of the ability to go on a flight or a holiday, but even Prime Ministers can't change the fundamental laws of economics, if the price of something continues to go up, then demand will fall.

‘So I would caution against continuing the policy of taxing the industry. Last year, as you've seen from the results, we absorbed 50 million pounds of additional regulatory costs that were imposed on us. I think you know enough is enough.’

Shares were up 11 per cent on Wednesday morning, even as the business said annual profits fell 7 per cent to £551million for the year to 31 March

But revenue rose 4 per cent to a record £7.48 billion after the group carried its highest-ever level of 20.83 million passengers during the year - a 5 per cent increase on the year before.

Jet2 blamed the lower profits on £11million of start-up costs at Gatwick airport.

Adam Vettese, market analyst for eToro, said: ‘While geopolitical uncertainty continues to push bookings closer to departure, investors appear to have focused on Jet2’s proven integrated model, market share gains and long-term expansion runway. The sharp rally suggests the market is willing to look through near term margin noise in favour of the group’s growth potential.

‘Shares have shown resilience in recent weeks after slipping over the past 12 months, investors will now be hoping this momentum can continue and push on to regain highs seen last summer.’