Jet2's radio callsign is Channex. Wikipedia lists Jet2's ICAO code as EXS and its callsign as CHANNEX, and its page for Channel Express, the freight airline that launched Jet2, lists the same two entries. On a tracker you see EXS followed by a flight code. On 6 October 2026 my unit showed a Jet2 Boeing 737-800, G-DRTA, as EXS75HZ at 16,925 feet, route STN to LPA.

Where Channex comes from

According to Wikipedia, Channel Express began operating commercial aircraft in 1983 under that name, when Philip Meeson bought it. It was initially a freight operator, and in 2003 it launched the Jet2.com brand from Leeds Bradford Airport.

Channex reads like a contraction of Channel Express. I have not found a source that spells out where the word comes from, so that part is my reading, not a quoted fact.

The first flight

Jet2's first flight left Leeds Bradford for Amsterdam on 12 February 2003. Wikipedia says it ran as a twice-daily rotation with two Boeing 737-300s.

The jet itself

Boeing's 737-300 first flew on 24 February 1984, according to Wikipedia's article on the 737 Classic. Boeing built 1,113 of them, and the last was delivered to Air New Zealand on 17 December 1999. Jet2 is listed among the type's users.

What was left in September 2025

On 3 September 2025, Simple Flying reported that Jet2 had seven 737-300s, citing ch-aviation. Each has 148 seats, all economy. The article says the type flew 43% of Jet2's departures from Leeds Bradford that month, up from 36% a year earlier, and that the aircraft were flown exclusively from Leeds Bradford. The final aircraft are due to be retired in winter 2027/2028. It also calls Jet2 the only UK operator of the type in scheduled passenger service, and names G-GDFG as the oldest, at 28.5 years.

On 17 October 2025, AeroRoutes noted that as of 12 October 2025 the 737-300s were still operating at Leeds Bradford. Jet2 had filed more 737-300 flights for early 2026.

Those figures are a year old. I do not have a newer fleet count, so read seven as the September 2025 number, not the current one.

Three on my screen on 6 October 2026

My unit logged three Jet2 737-300s on 6 October 2026. Each label read Boeing 737-300:

  • G-GDFM, as EXS19H at 34,025 feet, ALC to LBA, Alicante to Leeds Bradford.
  • G-GDFG, as EXS2ML at 34,000 feet, PMI to LBA, Palma to Leeds Bradford. Simple Flying named this airframe as Jet2's oldest 737-300 in September 2025.
  • G-GDFT, as EXS1TL at 10,700 feet, LTN to ALC, Luton to Alicante.

Two of the three were heading for Leeds Bradford, which fits Simple Flying's account. The third is the odd one out. Its label read Luton to Alicante, and the September 2025 article says the type flew only from Leeds Bradford. I can only report what the label showed. Schedules and aircraft swaps change, and the route on a label is the one on file for that flight.

A question

Channex only makes sense with the history behind it. Which airline callsign surprised you most?

Sources