Bosses at leisure airline and hotels operator Jet2 have launched a stinging attack on a smaller rival operator which they are demanding change its name.

Jet2 has rebutted claims that it is to blame for the Civil Aviation Authority’s decision to halt ticket sales by jetXtra, which is planning to start flights from Humberside Airport to Majorca and Malaga from June.

Yeadon-based Jet2, which also operates jet2Holidays, has threatened jetXtra with legal action unless it changes its name, which Jet2 claims could mislead customers.

jetXtra has blamed Jet2 for the CAA ban, but both the authority and Jet2 said the claim was untrue.

Jet2 said the CAA had verified that it was stopping the sale of further seats by jetXtra as it was not licensed to sell airline seats or holidays. The decision had nothing to do with Jet2.com and was made solely to protect consumers.

Steve Lee, Jet2.com commercial director, said: “We communicated with jetXtra in private over legal concerns. For the managing director to use this correspondence erroneously and publically is amateurish and damaging and a clear example of why we do not want any confusion among consumers between JetXtra and Jet2.com.”