October half-term flights from UK airports were down 18% on the equivalent pre-pandemic 2019 period, new data reveals.
A total of 17,589 flights were scheduled to depart UK airports, equating to more than 3 million seats.
However, the total was down from 21,394 departing flights in the comparable October holiday period three years ago, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
The volume was up 55% year-on-year with the most popular international destinations being Dublin, Amsterdam and Palma, showing continued recovery of the industry.
EasyJet was the busiest airline during the holiday period, with 3,771 departures from the UK, followed by British Airways, Ryanair and Jet2.
Heathrow saw most departures at 3,898, followed by Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester.