Airlines and airports gear up for a bumper Easter and bank holiday period, as thousands of passengers are set to take advantage of the extended holidays created by bank holidays as well as the Royal Wedding.
An unprecedented string of bank holidays is sure to mean great news for the tourism industry as a number of Britons are expected to jump aboard and embark on a cheerful sojourn.
A really late Easter, the royal wedding and the spring bank holidays accumulate together to offer an opportunity to the holiday makers to enjoy an exciting vacation.
A number of vacationers are enticed by the idea of spending time in the warmer climates as the forthcoming bank holiday bonanza approaches. For people in a traditional Monday to Friday job, just three days off from the office means that they can enjoy an 11-day break.
According to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), roughly two million British holidaymakers are set to head off overseas around the Easter break.
ABTA chairman John McEwan was quoted by different news websites as stating, “Easter is the traditional curtain raiser to the summer, and the Royal Wedding bank holiday has given a special boost to bookings.
“I am delighted to see that so many of our customers are taking advantage of the extra days off, either heading off overseas or taking a break closer to home.”
Airlines too seem to be excited with occurrence and believe that a number of British vacationers will take advantage of the opportunity.
EasyJet, a budget carrier that is renowned to offer tickets on its cheap flights, described the forthcoming two weeks as ‘once-in-a-lifetime bank holiday extravaganza’. The airline hopes to cash in on the long break and has rolled out some exciting last minute deals for those who have missed their tickets on its earlier scheduled cheap flights.
Popular Holiday Destinations among Britons
For Britons, Spain remains one of the most favourite foreign holiday destinations with Canary Islands and the Costa del Sol being the most popular areas. As far as cities are concerned, Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam, Rome and New York are few of the popular choices.
For domestic vacations, London seems to be the undisputed leader with thousands in line to book tickets on flights to the capital city to join in with the Royal Wedding celebrations. Edinburgh andManchester are also popular as domestic holiday travel, and with some great weather forecasted during the Easter weekend, bookings for cottages in Cornwall, East Anglia and the North of England are on the upswing. Even the seaside resorts of Blackpool, Bournemouth and Brighton are hoping to experience a bumper period. Great bookings for the Channel Islands and the Isles of Man and Wight are also reported by the ABTA members.
Various major UK airports have registered soaring numbers of bookings, with even regional airports and ferry terminals looking towards an extremely busy weekend.
Gatwick Airport Set to Experience a Holiday Bonanza
One of the major UK airports, Gatwick recently reported a rise of 4 % in the number of passengers travelling through the airport as people take advantage of the rare phenomenon. Malaga, Costa del Sol in Spain seems to be the most popular holiday destination with the Gatwick Airport reporting a considerable rise in the number of people booking flights for the city. Some 48,000 Britons are supposed to be travelling to the Spanish city during the period. Dublin and Alicante are other popular holiday spots.
Guy Stephenson, Commercial Director at Gatwick Airport was quoted as saying, “Easter is always a busy time for Gatwick with passengers jetting off to popular hot spots in the Canaries, the Algarve and Turkey to enjoy the sunshine after a long, cold winter. But this year we are gearing up for an even busier Easter with the string of bank holidays and the extra day for the Royal Wedding meaning passengers can take an 11 day holiday with just three days annual leave.”
“Despite the Royal Wedding at the end of the month, our busiest period remains the second weekend of April when the spring school half term starts. We will be handling 500,000 passengers that weekend, which is a 6% increase on last year,” Mr Stephenson further added.
