ABTA – The Travel Association estimates around two million British holidaymakers are set to head overseas over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend of 29 March – 1 April with Good Friday and Easter Sunday the busiest days for travel.

ABTA members have reported strong demand for overseas holidays with the Canary Islands, mainland Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Turkey leading the way.

Temperatures in the UK’s favourite overseas destinations are set to be higher than at home over the Bank Holiday weekend with plenty of sunshine. The following popular destinations will average these high temperatures during the day – Alicante 22C, Faro 21C, Lanzarote 22C, Palma 21C, Antalya 23C, ideal weather for relaxing on the beach, exploring historic city centres or enjoying a leisurely lunch in the spring sunshine. 

By contrast the weather in the UK over the weekend is rather less inviting, with average temperatures seeing London and Manchester at 13C, Belfast 12C, Cardiff 13C and Edinburgh 11C with all seeing a mixture of cloud, sunshine and showers.

Many will also be taking advantage of the four day Bank Holiday weekend to take a city break, with Amsterdam, Barcelona, Prague and Dublin popular for short haul and New York and Dubai for longer flights.

Airports are reporting strong numbers with 175,000 leaving from Stansted, 105,000 from Luton, 160,000 leaving from Manchester, 79,000 from Birmingham, and 89,000 from Edinburgh.

Other regional airports, seaports and the Channel Tunnel will also be extremely busy over the weekend. Travellers are advised to check with their transport providers and departure ports to check if there is any specific advice they need to be aware of for their journey.

This time of year is always a popular time for UK breaks with holidaymakers heading off on city breaks, stays in country cottages and visits to seaside resorts, with many people also looking to take a day drip to explore local attractions.

Mark Tanzer, ABTA Chief Executive, said:

“Easter is one of the busiest times of year for the travel industry with many looking to take advantage of the long Bank Holiday weekend to take an overseas break when many destinations are at their best, with good sunshine and the spring countryside at its most lovely.

“To save unnecessary stress, we would recommend that customers leave plenty of time to get to their departure point as the roads will be busy and to check for engineering works if using public transport. If you have booked with an ABTA travel company, they will be able to provide you with the most up to date advice about what you need to know for your travels.”

ABTA has a range of travel advice for anyone heading off on holiday this weekend, this can be found at www.abta.com/tips-and-advice.

Notes to editors
ABTA is a trade association for UK travel agents, tour operators and the wider travel industry. We’re the largest travel trade body, with over 4,600 travel brands in membership who have a combined pre-pandemic annual UK turnover of £40 billion. We work closely with our members to help raise and maintain standards and build a more sustainable travel industry, and provide travellers with advice, guidance and support.

Our members sign up to a code of conduct and commit to agreed service standards and fair trading. When you need clear travel information, and accurate and impartial advice relating to your trip, we’re here for you. When you book with an ABTA member, reliable advice comes as standard. This means that booking with our members brings peace of mind.

All this together means we help you travel with confidence. www.abta.com.