The aviation analytics firm, Cirium, shares some statistics showing how flights have recovered compared to pre-pandemic levels. During February half-term 2023, 15,455 flights are scheduled to depart UK airports – equating to over 2.7 million seats. Departures from UK airports during half-term remain 19% down compared to the same period in 2019 when there were 19,136 departing flights.
Departures are up 44% compared to half-term 2022, and 731% up compared to half-term 2021, showing the continued recovery of the industry. The most popular international destinations for UK departures will be Dublin, Amsterdam, Geneva, Tenerife-South and Paris CDG.
easyJet is projected to be the largest airline during the holiday period, with 3,126 departures from the UK, followed by British Airways, Ryanair and Loganair. Heathrow Airport will see the largest number of departures, 4,092, followed by Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester.
