The pandemic had a major impact on the tourism sector and the world is celebrating the fact that we are almost heading back to normal again.
Recently, however, Heathrow Airport announced that it would be limiting passenger numbers through the airports until mid-September, which follows London Gatwick Airport’s introduction of a cap on the number of flights per day back in June.
This is likely to impact South African travellers with the UK being such a popular destination for South Africans.
“London is a hot spot for South African travellers this summer – in fact, it is the most-searched-for destination in the world by SA holidaymakers with around a 145% increase in searches made during the past two weeks for the travel period July to September this year compared to the same period in 2019.’
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’New airports’ regulations might be a blow for SA’s travellers who had excitedly planned their vacations, searched for flights and taken up their travel bags following the dropping of final lockdown regulations, which opened up international travel again,” says Laure Bornet, GM, KAYAK EMEA, manager Cheapflights.co.za
The global travel search engine has analysed data based on flight searches for the remainder of the summer to predict what days might be less busy than others, and which dates might be better to avoid when departing from a UK airport.
Based on this analysis, Thursday, August 18 currently appears to be the least busy day for departure from a UK airport, while Monday, August 1 appears to be the busiest.
In addition to having the least number of flight searches, Cheapflights found Thursday, August18 has about 87% fewer departure flight searches than the peak travel date of August 1. Being willing to hold out until September could also help avoid heavy crowds, as it was found that Sunday 11, Tuesday 20 and Sunday 28 in September are also among some of the least popular departure dates.
“International travel is now back, but airlines and airports, which drastically reduced their workforce during the pandemic, are struggling to keep up with the increase in demand. In addition to avoiding the peak summer travel days in July and early August, consider the time of your flight, too.’’
‘’An early morning departure can often be the best option to avoid the sheer volume of people at the airport – and often best traffic-wise in getting there too.
“Those wishing to avoid the crowds this summer might also want to reconsider travelling to other holiday destinations. Check out the Cheapflights website for some great alternatives that suit your budget,” comments Bornet.