Airports set for busy weekend

Over two million people are expected to head off on their summer holiday from the UK’s airports and ports this weekend.

With most English schools breaking up today, this is one of the busiest weekends of the year at airports. The UK’s busiest airport, Heathrow, is expected to welcome around half a million passengers this weekend. Airport operator, BAA, says that a similar number will be travelling through Gatwick airport from Friday to Monday.

According to ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents), another 160,000 people will travel through Manchester airport, 150,000 through Stansted airport, 70,000 through Birmingham airport, and 150,000 through the main Scottish airports including Edinburgh and Glasgow.

During such peak periods airport queues are always possible, but the airport operators will be hoping they have sufficient resources at check in and security to minimise delays. And Heathrow in particular will be determined that there will be no repeat of the baggage handling problems that blighted the opening of Terminal 5.

Despite the credit crunch and economic doom and gloom, ABTA says “plans for family holidays have remained unchanged and bookings remain strong for the summer”. Research for the organisation by Ascent-MI shows that summer holiday bookings from the UK were up 1% at the end of June compared to the same time last year.

Spain is still the number one holiday destination according to ABTA. But the biggest growth in bookings this year is for Egypt, up 28%, and Turkey, up 20%. Thanks to the weak dollar, bookings to the USA are up by 8%. There has also been a 20% rise in bookings for all inclusive holidays – “a great way to keep a lid on budgets”, says ABTA.

Written by: Nick Purdom

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