Half-term flight numbers remain below pre-pandemic levels 

The number of flights from UK airports during October half-term is set to rise 2% to 27,751 compared to the same period last year.

More than five millions seats are available across the departing flights, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium data reveals.

However, departures this half-term remain 2% down compared to the same period pre-pandemic in 2019 when there were 28,351 flights. This is due to the increased size and seat density of aircraft operated now.

Capacity is up by 9% from UK airports this half-term from 4.6 million in the same period in 2019 due to airlines using larger aircraft.

Tomorrow (Friday) is expected to be the busiest day for departures across the autumn school holiday period with 3,098 flights scheduled,

The most popular international destinations are Dublin, Amsterdam, Alicante, Malaga and Paris.

EasyJet is projected to offer the most flights during the holiday period, followed by British Airways, Ryanair and Jet2.com.

Heathrow will see the largest number of departures, followed by Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted and Edinburgh.