Airports get ready for big Easter getaway
An estimated two million British holidaymakers are set to head overseas over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
ABTA said the Costa del Sol and the Canary and Balearic Islands will be the most popular regions for Brits going abroad.
It said members are also reporting that Florida, Cuba, Cape Verde, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Thailand have sold well.
Airports are reporting strong passenger numbers with 425,000 leaving from Heathrow, 250,000 from Gatwick, 153,000 from Stansted, and 87,000 from Luton.
Regional airports will also be busy, with 150,000 leaving from Manchester, 70,000 from Birmingham, 50,000 from Bristol and over 100,000 from the Scottish airports.
Mark Tanzer ABTA chief executive, said: “The roads will be busy, so we would recommend leaving a little extra time to get to your port of departure and if using public transport, to check in advance for engineering works.”
Meanwhile, VisitEngland believes 6.6 million Brits are planning an overnight holiday trip in the UK this Easter weekend, bringing an estimated £1.7 billion boost to the British economy.
The figures, based on an annual survey, show an increase on last year when 6 million adults in Britain planned to take an overnight Easter staycation, while in 2015 the figure was 5 million.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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