UK airport departures still lag behind pre-Covid levels

The number of flights scheduled to depart from UK airports this month is up by almost a third (31%) year on year – but the figure remains 15% down on March 2019, before the pandemic.

Aviation analytics firm Cirium said that UK airports will see just over 71,600 departures this March, equating to more than 12.5 million seats.

However, the departures figure show how the recovery from the effects of the pandemic still has some way to go as this month’s total is 15% lower than March 2019.

Heathrow, Britain’s busiest airport, is projected to see its highest number of departures this month since January 2020, with more than 18,860 flights scheduled to take off.

On the other hand, Southend airport will see just one departure during the whole month – 99.8% down on March 2019 when 501 flights departed, said Cirium.

The recovery of air travel stuttered in late 2021 and early 2022 because of the imposition of restrictions amid the surge of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

The UK government removed the remaining restrictions on international travel for all passengers in March 2022, ahead of the Easter holidays last year.

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