ABTA estimates 2.2 million British holidaymakers will head overseas during the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, with Good Friday set to be the busiest day for travel.
Mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Greece and Turkey are the most popular destinations for short-haul travel and Thailand for long-haul travel, according to the travel association’s members.
Many holidaymakers are taking advantage of the four-day weekend to take a city break, with Dublin, Amsterdam, Budapest, Rome, Paris and Istanbul for short-haul and Dubai for longer flights.
ABTA says 187,000 passengers will leave Stansted this weekend, 105,000 will depart from Luton and 160,000 from Manchester. Hundreds of thousands of passengers will also depart from Heathrow and Gatwick, with Birmingham expecting its busiest-ever Easter period.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) said it is gearing up for a busy Easter Bank Holiday weekend with more than 60,000 passengers expected to pass through.
ABTA Chief Executive Mark Tanzer said: “Easter is always one of the busiest times of year for the travel industry with millions taking advantage of the long weekend to take an overseas beach or city break. Over the past few months, ABTA members will have been working hard to help travellers secure the ideal Easter break.”
Flight data analyst Cirium said 11,282 flights are scheduled to depart UK airports, equating to over two million seats. Heathrow will have the largest number of departures, at 2,680 flights.
Easter Friday is projected to be the busiest day for UK departures during the weekend, with 2,949 flights taking off from UK airports
Easter departures from UK airports remain 4% down compared to the Easter weekend in 2019 when there were 11,743 departing flights, however departures are up 6% compared to Easter 2024.
The most popular international destination for UK departures will be Dublin, followed by Amsterdam, Malaga, Alicante and Mallorca.
