This weekend to be 'one of busiest of year' for travel, Abta predicts

Abta is estimating that more than two million British holidaymakers will head overseas this weekend, which is the first this year that all UK schools will be on their summer break.

Spain remains the most popular destination for families with the Costa Brava, Costa del Sol, Balearic and Canary Islands leading the way.

Abta members are also reporting strong demand for Greece, Portugal, Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Italy, Malta, Morocco and Cape Verde.

City breaks are also proving popular, with Amsterdam, Dubai, Dublin, Budapest, Barcelona and Lisbon featuring strongly.

Airports in the southeast in particular are expected to have “a very busy weekend”, said Abta, with hundreds of thousands of passengers due to depart from Heathrow and Gatwick, in addition to 210,000 from Stansted and 120,000 from Luton.

A total of 220,000 passengers are predicted to depart from Manchester airport and more than 100,000 from Birmingham.

Airports in Scotland, regional airports, ports and the Channel Tunnel will also be “extremely busy”, the association added.

Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “This weekend will be one of the busiest for travel with many more families in the UK heading  off overseas for a well-deserved summer break, either spending quality time together on a relaxing beach holiday or having fun on a cultural city break.

“To help ensure a stress-free travel experience, leave plenty of time to get to your departure port and, if using public transport and check in advance for any potential engineering works.”