Over 1.6m in Bank Holiday escape
More than 1.6 million people will travel abroad to escape the wettest ever August this Bank Holiday weekend, ABTA estimates.
Today and tomorrow are expected to be the busiest days when 850,000 will fly from the South East alone, with 420,000 flying from Heathrow, 240,000 from Gatwick, 140,000 from Stansted and 50,000 from Luton.
Nearly 400,000 will leave through regional airports, including 165,000 from Manchester, 65,000 from Birmingham and 38,000 from East Midlands.
Although this weekend is not a bank holiday in Scotland, 114,000 Scots will be heading away.
Additionally Eurostar is laying on an extra eight trains to cope with “unprecedented” demand, with 140,000 passsengers due to be carried over the bank holiday period from yesterday. This is despite an RMT strike which the company does not expect will disrupt schedules.
A further 320,000 people will be heading for France and Spain either by ferry or Eurotunnel.
Majorca, the Canary Islands, mainland Spain, Portugal and the Greek islands remain the holiday favourites, while Italy Cyprus and Turkey follow closely behind, according to ABTA.
But concerns exiting about British Airways’ ability to cope with the Bank Holiday rush following a week of disruption due to staff shortages and operational difficulties at Heathrow. Chief executive Rod Eddington and other senior managers are due to work at the airport over the weekend in an effort to bolster staff numbers.
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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