Bank holiday flights to hit 86% of pre-pandemic levels

Departures from UK airports up 9% on last year, according to Cirium data

Kass Kass
Apr 27, 2023 - 21:05
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Bank holiday flights to hit 86% of pre-pandemic levels

The number of flights from UK airports over the forthcoming bank holiday weekend will hit 86% of pre-pandemic levels, research shows.

A total of 7,735 departures are scheduled between Saturday (April 29) and Monday (May 1), according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

The figure – equating to more than 1.3 million seats – is 14% lower than that seen over the May Day bank holiday weekend in 2019, when 9,020 flights were recorded.

But this year’s expected total is 9% higher than in 2022 and 579% up compared with 2021.

A spokesperson for Cirium said the figures show the “continued recovery of the industry”.

The most popular international destinations for UK departures will be Dublin, Amsterdam, Palma, Malaga and Alicante.

Meanwhile, easyJet is set to be the busiest airline – with 1,599 departures from the UK – followed by British Airways, Ryanair, Jet2 and Loganair.

Heathrow will see the most departures, followed by Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester and Luton.