Increased consumer confidence in trips abroad could be undermined by an upsurge in airport delays and flight cancellations, a travel insurance specialist has warned.
The revival that the travel sector desperately needs after two years of Covid restrictions could be undone by chaos at UK airports, AllClear warned.
The caution came as company research indicated the extent to which consumer confidence in overseas travel has finally returned.
Compared to this time in 2021 when only 8% of UK adults believed it was safe to travel abroad, there has been a six-fold increase in a year.
Half of people now believe it is completely safe to travel abroad and 92% think it will be safe within 12 months.
As a result, the proportion of people planning a short-haul holiday flight has almost doubled in a year, from 19% to 37%.
Southern Europe, northern Europe and Scandinavia are the regions deemed to be safest with two in five (40%) respondents believing it is already safe to travel to these regions, a tenfold increase on last year (4%).
AllClear chief executive Chris Rolland said: “The travel sector has stood on a cliff edge during two years of social restrictions and the last thing we need right now is resurgent consumer confidence to be damaged – not just the inconvenience caused for those at airports this weekend, but the images of these events adversely impacting people’s travel plans for the summer holidays.
“Our research indicates that consumer confidence over safe travel has bounced back strongly and this will play out in airports being significantly busier by the end of next month. So airports need to be ready for the travel bounce back the sector desperately needs.
“If we face a period of delays and cancellations at UK airports, there is a serious risk it will impact people’s holiday plans.
“Consumer confidence in travel has returned but it is fragile after two years of lockdown and everyone in the sector must focus on doing whatever they can to protect this.”