Airports braced for Easter exodus
Some 2.1 million British holidaymakers are set to head overseas over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, with Good Friday the busiest day for travel, said ABTA.
About half a million will leave from Heathrow, 260,000 from Gatwick, 180,000 from Stansted and almost 100,000 from Luton.
Regional airports will be busy, with 160,000 leaving from Manchester, 50,000 from Bristol and over 100,000 from the Scottish airports.
More than 70,000 people are booked to travel by Eurostar this weekend, with the most popular minibreak destination being Paris.
ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer said: "The getaway for Easter tends to be one of the busiest times of year on the roads – with the Met Office predicting wet and windy weather we advise anyone travelling by car to airports, ferry terminals or directly to their holiday destinations to leave plenty of time. If using public transport, check in advance for engineering works."
Spain is yet again the favourite overseas destination with Malaga, Alicante and the Canary Islands the most popular regions.
Southern Turkey will also be busy, while Egypt is another popular choice.
ABTA members report that Cancun and Florida are also selling well while low-cost long-haul flights has boosted the numbers travelling to Los Angeles, New York, Hong Kong and Boston from Gatwick.
As we enter one of the last weekends of the ski season, ABTA members says resorts in France, Austria and Italy have sold well.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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