British Airways expects to carry 111,000 passengers across its network tomorrow (Friday) on its busiest day of the festive season.
Almost 31,000 people are booked to fly with the airline on Christmas Day.
The day will also see 845 pilots and 2,473 cabin crew working or overseas for the carrier which plans to operate 58 aircraft on December 25.
Two peaks for returning travellers have been identified as January 4 with 107,000 passengers and January 7 with 106,000.
BA says nearly 1.6 million people will travel to and from the airline’s 175 destinations worldwide until January 7.
Almost 60,000 mince pies will be served on long-haul flights from Heathrow.