The coronation of King Charles III looks set to add up to 11% to UK passenger traffic, according to numbers collated by Cirium, an aviation data analytics company.
The week preceding the event on May 6 should see 18,881 flights land at UK airports, according to Cirium, an 11% rise on the period in 2022.
The "spike in inbound flights" equates to more than 3.3 million seats, according to Cirium, with almost 3,000 of the flights set to land on May 5, the day before the coronation. The event is being further marked by a public holiday on May 8, with the day off work likely adding to travel demand.
Over 10,000 of the arrivals will be to London airports, Cirium said, with almost half of those to land at Heathrow.
However, it is likely that not all of the 11% rise can be put down to the coronation, as passenger traffic has in general been up in 2023 compared to 2022, when most restrictions on travel and flying were lifted in most European countries.