Representative ImageNew data from aviation analytics firm Cirium reveals that the number of domestic UK flights has more than halved over the past 20 years, with 213,025 flights scheduled throughout 2025, compared to a peak in 2006 of 454,375 flights.
This equates to over 240,000 fewer flights scheduled in 2025 than 2006, amounting to an average daily reduction of 661 flights across the UK.
A combination of higher Air Passenger Duty tax, shifting environmental concerns and the ability for airlines to make greater profits from short-haul services beyond the UK could have contributed to the decline.
The reduction in domestic flights has impacted regional airports with several UK hubs closing their commercial operations over the past 20 years, including Doncaster Sheffield in 2022, Blackpool in 2014 and Plymouth in 2011.
The demise of Flybe, once the UK’s largest domestic operator, during the pandemic in 2020 will also have affected the number of available flights. However, the decline was already prevalent prior to Flybe entering administration and a number of routes previously operated by the carrier have since been taken over by other airlines.
2025 will see 75,896 fewer flights compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The number of available seats has significantly decreased during the past 20 years, dropping 35% from 39.1 million in 2006 to 25.5 million seats in 2025. This represents a drop of 37,000 fewer passengers flying on internal flights each day within the UK.
More recently, flights have decreased since 2024, with almost a million fewer seats available for domestic UK travel this year.
The general reduction of internal flights across the UK is driven by a change in customer demand and shifting strategy among airlines which have dropped domestic services following the doubling of Air Passenger Duty rates in 2007*.
remy Bowen, Cirium CEO, said: “This reduction over the past two decades shows a staggering change in the way we travel throughout the UK. Passengers are looking at more sustainable and affordable ways to travel domestically, so airlines have responded by reducing their internal services and prioritising more popular destinations including Spain, France and Italy.”
This substantial change in the way people travel throughout the UK coincides with a rise in rail travel, according to the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) Passenger rail usage statistics. The ORR has seen a 50% increase in rail travel from 1.15 billion passengers in 2005/6 to almost 1.73 billion in 2024/5**.
