Britons head abroad as school ends

ABTA estimates that as many as 1.8 million holidaymakers will travel on the first weekend alone.

Travel Insurance News - 20/07/2009

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Traffic at the UK’s main airports is expected to be busy, with 415,000 departing from Heathrow airport, 240,000 from Gatwick, 140,000 from Stansted, 150,000 from Manchester, 65,000 from Birmingham and around 130,000 from Scotland’s major airports.

Additional holidaymakers, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, are expected to travel by Channel tunnel, on ferries and by regional airport services.

Spain remains the number one destination for Britons, with the Balearic Islands also popular, in spite of the euro’s strength, the ABTA noted.

Significant growth has been seen in Turkey and Egypt as destinations and the US is continuing to perform well in the long-haul sector.

Families are increasingly choosing all-inclusive holidays as they attempt to control holiday spending and avoid unfavourable currency fluctuations.

The major tour operators have cut summer capacity, meaning that fewer late deals are available. Travellers with some flexibility during the peak period are still able to find some deals, however.

The chief executive of the ABTA, Mark Tanzer, noted: “This year many of us are choosing to book later than normal and if you haven’t made your mind up yet on where to go and are flexible in your choices there are still some great deals available.”

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