Bank holiday rush starts
More than two million people are expected to flock abroad this bank holiday weekend, ABTA estimates.
Mainland Spain, the Canary and Balearic Islands and Italy are the best-selling short-haul destinations, while Turkey, Egypt and other North African countries have also sold well, according to ABTA.
Florida and New York are also selling well due to good value flights and the ongoing weakness of the dollar.
Airlines and tour operators report almost full flights to cities such as Paris, Barcelona, Rome and Madrid. Less well-known destinations served by no-frills airlines are expecting record numbers to visit, particularly in Eastern Europe.
More than 1.5 million will fly from UK airports with 420,000 from Heathrow, 240,000 from Gatwick, 65,000 from Stansted, 65,000 from Birmingham, 160,000 from Manchester, 30,000 from Nottingham East Midlands, 61,000 from Luton, 60,000 from Glasgow, 50,000 from Edinburgh and 20,000 from Aberdeen.
Over 600,000 will travel by sea or rail to France, Holland, Belgium and Spain including around 70,000 with Eurostar, which has laid on an extra eight trains this weekend.
ABTA president Martin Wellings said: “The summer season gets into full swing this weekend and we are looking forward to a bumper number of bookings.”
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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