Post-pandemic the UK airports have recovered almost by 55% as compared to the October half-term of 2021, according to data from Cirium. Recent data revealed that departures from UK airports during October half-term remain 18% down compared to the same period in 2019 when there were 21,394 departing flights, while the departures are up 55% compared to half-term 2021, showing the continued recovery of the industry.
The most popular international destinations for UK departures were Dublin, Amsterdam, and Palma de Mallorca.
EasyJet was the largest airline during the holiday period, with 3771 departures from the UK, followed by British Airways, Ryanair, and Jet2.com. Heathrow Airport saw the largest number of departures, 3,898, followed by Gatwick, Stansted, and Manchester.
Heathrow and Gatwick reported a stronger recovery due to their focus on the leisure market, with Gatwick reporting an 11% shortfall compared to 2019 and Heathrow down to 19%. Interestingly the report showed Stansted’s departures at 97% of 2019 levels and Gatwick’s down by 6% as compared to October 2019.
Dundee Airport also finished a strong Q3 with departures up by 32% up over Q3 2019. Also, flights departing Bournemouth airport ramped in the summer which resulted in flights being only 3% down versus the same quarter in 2019. Bristol Airport closely followed, as summer services also ramped up, with a total of around 3,030 flights departing each month from the UK, resulting in Q3 flights only 4% down compared to 2019
The largest drop in flights at a large UK airport compared to Q3 2019 was seen from Southend Airport, with departures plunging by 95% year-on-year.
Norwich Airport and Cardiff Airport were also affected, with flights being down 56% and 52% respectively compared to the same period in 2019.
A sudden surge in passenger traffic coupled with a lack of manpower and infrastructural challenges led to airline and passenger woes like mass cancellations, luggage loss, and longer passenger queues leading to airport mis-management. Major airports like Gatwick, Heathrow, and Schiphol bore the brunt. However, things have slowly started falling into place with the airport’s rigorous hiring processes and temporary capacity reduction.