Bank holiday flight departures remain down on pre-pandemic levels

Almost 12,500 flights equating to more than two million seats are set to leave from UK airports this bank holiday weekend, latest data shows.

The volume is marginally up by 1% compared to the same weekend in 2024 when there were 12,306 flights, showing the continued recovery of the industry, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

However, the level remains 5% down compared to the equivalent August bank holiday weekend in pre-pandemic 2019 when there were 13,152 departing flights.

Today (Friday) is projected to be the busiest day for departures, with 3,256 flights taking off from UK airports.

The total across the weekend of 12,474 is more than over the early May bank holiday, which saw 11,747 flights departing the UK.

Heathrow will see the largest number of departures at 2,679, followed by Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted.