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The summer holidays are almost upon us, and that means it’s soon going to be all-go at Britain’s airports. Air travel is rarely fun at the best of times, but when you’re running late for your flight and then met by a massive queue for security it can be even worse.
Now, new research by the Independent has revealed exactly when British airports will be at their busiest this summer. The newspaper analysed data from airports and flight data from aviation data analyst Cirium to work out when terminals will be most crowded.
According to the paper, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays will be the most crowded days in UK airports throughout the summer.
In Scotland’s biggest airports, the later days in July will see the terminals at their most crowded.
British airports that cater to more than 30 million passengers each year – Manchester, Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick – will see their busiest days in the second half of August.
At Gatwick, the world’s busiest single-runway airport, a plane will land or take off an average of every 95 seconds around the clock on a couple of days in August – with just 65 seconds between departures and arrivals in peak hours.
Major airports in Northern Ireland and Wales have already seen their busiest days this summer, but Cardiff airport will see its highest number of departures on August 28, when 2,684 passengers are expected to take off.
As for London’s business-oriented airport London City, that will have its most crowded day after the summer hols have ended on September 1, when 89 flights with 9,195 seats are due to depart from the east London hub.
If you’re looking for a more stress-free experience, you’ll want to fly on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday to avoid the crowds.
Here’s the breakdown of which major airports are going to be busiest on which days of the week throughout July and August:
- Fridays: Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heathrow, Manchester
- Sundays: Gatwick, Luton, Stansted
- Mondays: Glasgow, Liverpool, Newcastle
Good luck out there.
More air travel with Time Out
In case you didn’t know, some of these airports are about to get even busier in the future. Stansted Airport recently submitted plans to boost passenger numbers to 51 million, while London City will expand with millions more passengers soon too. Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton have all confirmed huge expansion plans, and Gatwick has got its sights on a second runway. Manchester Airport has also recently announced a massive multimillion-pound revamp of one of its terminals. Finally, making things a bit easier for passengers, two major British airports have just scrapped the 100ml liquids rule.
ICYMI: Ryanair is making a major change to its bag policy.
Plus: UK airlines could soon stop charging extra for hand luggage.
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