Nearly three million passengers are set to leave for sunnier climes from East Midlands Airport (EMA) through the summer of 2013, as a host of new flights are introduced and the bad weather continues.
The second bank holiday weekend was expected to see about 65,000 passengers pass through the airport. The May Day bank holiday weekend had already seen the airport catering for 50,000 visitors.
Talking about the rise in numbers, the head of customer services for EMA, Nicola McCabe said: “In the first few weeks of the summer season alone we have already seen a surge in the number of passengers travelling aboard and it is most definitely an encouraging sign for the year ahead.”
The jump in passenger numbers is being linked by many to the long winter Britain has experienced this year. The coldest spring for 30 years, the average temperature through March, April and May was actually lower than the preceding three-month average – the traditional winter months.
With the Met Office predicting a cold and damp summer ahead, as the jet stream continues to sit above the UK, many people will no doubt consider getting away somewhere warm.
For the whole season, an extra 200,000 plus passengers are expected to use the Leicestershire airport. This is a significant increase from 2012, with about 2.9 million passengers in total expected to travel through.
McCabe continued:
“Passenger volumes this summer are expected to grow by eight per cent as a result of fifteen new routes being launched and increased frequency on existing routes.”
Major operators will be flying new routes this year, increasing the availability of flights to cope with demand. Jet2.com, for example, will add six new routes, to Dubrovnik, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Larnaca, Menorca and Nice, taking its total destination list to 18.
One of these existing destinations, Palma, is set to remain the most popular route. It is forecast that over 275,000 passengers will head to the Majorcan destination from the East Midlands region this year.
About 200,000 local people are expected to travel to Alicante and Malaga too, as Spain remains a strong British favourite throughout the summer months.
With increasing numbers of people looking for a bargain holiday after a torrid long winter in the UK, August looks like being the busiest month for years. This is all the more likely to prove to be the case should the experts’ somewhat gloomy weather predictions come true.
