2007 Articles

Xmas and new year 'to see record traveller numbers'

Record numbers of Brits are expected to jet off to holiday destinations all over the world during the Christmas and new year period.

According to the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta), some 3.5 million people will head overseas between December 21st and January 2nd, in search of guaranteed sunshine and snow.

The former weather type is expected to be the biggest lure, with the hotspots of the Canary Islands, Egypt and Goa set to top the list of desirable destinations.
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Nottingham set for record breaking Xmas

Nottingham/East Midlands Airport is predicting that passenger traffic over the festive period will reach record levels this year.

According to the airport's booking figures, about 170,000 people will be travelling to and from East Midlands between December 19th and January 2nd, marking a 13 per cent year-on-year rise in passenger traffic.

The largest proportion of travellers are getting ready to enjoy a city break in Dublin or some winter sunshine in the Spanish resort of Alicante, but numerous other routes such as Malaga and Tenerife are also in high demand.
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Manchester prepares for Christmas rush

Manchester Airport has revealed that it is preparing for one of its busiest ever Christmas periods over the coming fortnight.

Some half a million passengers are expected to pass through the north-west hub between December 21st and January 1st, as some escape the British winter and others come home for Christmas.

One particularly hectic five-day period is expected to see some 270,000 people departing from Manchester Airport.
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Abta: 2008 will be a great year to travel

The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) has claimed that 2008 will be "a great year to travel", with a number of social and cultural factors influencing people's holiday decisions.

Colombia will be "back on the map of must-see destinations" as a result of Love in the Time of Cholera, a film based in the city of Cartagena, according to Abta.

Another movie, The Cup, starring Pierce Brosnan and Nicole Kidman, is expected to augment British travellers' desire to visit Australia, while TV show The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency will boost the exposure of Botswana.
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Stockholm route to be restored for Bristol passengers

Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) has confirmed that it is to reinstate its route between Bristol Airport and Stockholm next year.

The carrier said that the connection proved "highly popular" with passengers from the south-west when it was offered during summer 2007.

Next year's service will be operated twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays, with services flying to Stockholm's Arlanda airport.
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Futuristic transport pods to serve Heathrow passengers

Work has begun on a futuristic transport system that will serve passengers at Heathrow Airport in less than two years' time.

The Personal Rapid Transit System will use 18 driverless, battery-powered vehicles that will ferry travellers around Heathrow's Terminal Five, due to open in spring next year.

To start with, the pods will operate between the terminal and the airport's business parking areas.
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Travellers 'eager to get away over Xmas'

Regular holidaymakers are so eager to escape the stress of Christmas at home that they would rather spend the holiday in a foreign hotel than visit their family, according to research.

A poll of 1,500 members of online travel community TripAdvisor found that 75 per cent of people would prefer to stay in a hotel overseas than visit their family at Christmas.

Over a third of the survey respondents said they were planning a festive holiday this year, the same amount as in 2006.
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Ryanair plans biggest ever route expansion

Ryanair has unveiled plans for its biggest ever route expansion next year, with 50 new services to be made available from a number of British airports.

Among the new routes are connections from Birmingham Airport to Girona, Marseille and Pisa, while Edinburgh Airport will be linked to Alicante, Bremen, Frankfurt, Marseille and Pisa.

Liverpool Airport will also be included in the changes, with new services to Malaga and Nantes, as will Manchester Airport, which will see new transfers to Marseille and Milan, among others.
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Massive expansion in north-west for easyJet

Low-fares airline easyJet has claimed that it will become the north-west's largest airline following "massive" expansion in the region.

The carrier will base new aircraft at Liverpool Airport and also open a new hub at Manchester Airport.

These changes are expected to enable the airline to carry over four million passengers a year from the north-west.
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Plane travel stays strong in October

Plane travel continued to enjoy success in October as an increasing number of people jetted off to various locations around the globe, new figures reveal.

Statistics from the Association of European Airlines (AEA), a group which counts British Airways and bmi among its members, show that October brought an increase of 4.9 per cent in passenger numbers.

The group said that key indicators are in line with trends for the year to date and traffic is set to hit an annual rate of increase of five per cent by the end of 2007.
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EasyJet launches from Birmingham

Birmingham Airport hosted its first ever flight from low-fares airline easyJet on December 14th as the carrier commenced services to Geneva, Switzerland.

The daily connection is expected to prove popular with travellers in the Midlands owing to the access it provides to ski resorts.

Customers on the inaugural flight were greeted by Joe Kelly, acting managing director of Birmingham Airport, and David Osborne, easyJet's UK general manager.
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