Easter weekend flight capacity 12% down on pre-Covid levels

| March 31, 2023, 11:19

Almost 7.8 million seats across 44,078 flights are scheduled from UK airports over the two-week Easter school holidays, new data reveals.

The Easter weekend will see up to 1.8 million passengers on 10,286 flights.

But numbers remain 12% down on the equivalent pre-pandemic bank holiday in 2019 when there were 11,743 departing flights.

However, the number of departures are up 12% compared to last Easter, and 655% up compared to 2021, showing the continued recovery of the industry, flight analytics firm Cirium indicated.

April 14 is projected to be the busiest day across the holiday period, with 2,776 flights departing.

Heathrow, which is being affected by a 10-day strike by security staff, will see the largest number of departures at 10,696 followed by Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester and Edinburgh.

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

EasyJet is projected to be the busiest airline during the school holiday period, with more than 9,000 departures from the UK, followed by British Airways, Ryanair, Loganair and Jet2.

Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said: “Security strikes at Heathrow will be deeply concerning to travellers this Easter, with some airlines already forced to cancel flights as a result.

“It’s essential Heathrow is prepared for the passengers whose flights will go ahead, and that no traveller misses their flight due to long lines at security and is left out of pocket. Anyone yet to book their holiday may want to consider alternative airports.

“French air traffic control strikes are also threatening wider chaos for travellers. Airlines should ensure they keep passengers informed of any potential changes to their booking as result of strike action as early as possible, and must not fail in their legal responsibility to offer travellers a refund or the option to be rebooked if their flight is cancelled, including with other airlines if necessary.”