Busiest ever festive season travel by air, rail and roads
Friday 22 December will be the busiest-ever day in the festive season at major UK airports. On 23rd December, there will be large crowds at rail stations. The post Busiest ever festive season travel by air, rail and roads appeared first on Travel And Tour World.
On 23rd December, there will be large crowds at rail stations as travellers seek to reach their Christmas destination before engineering works begin.
Friday 22 December is likely to be the busiest-ever day in the festive season at major UK airports.
Exclusive research shows London Heathrow Airport will be as busy as a peak day in summer on the last Friday before Christmas, dubbed “Flyaway Friday”.
The same day, 22 December, will probably see maximum pressure on Aberdeen, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Liverpool airports, according to figures seen by a news agency.
Travellers may experience long queues for security due to the high proportion of airline passengers who travel infrequently and are therefore unfamiliar with procedures.
Airport users will also be wearing winter clothes and many will be carrying potential items of interest in their cabin baggage.
East Midlands, London Stansted and Manchester airports may be busiest on Saturday 23 December.
This is also the date when key rail links will see peak pressure.
On Christmas Eve, two of the UK’s busiest stations – Paddington and King’s Cross in London will be closed due to engineering work, ahead of the normal 25 December nationwide shutdown.
On the railways, the most heavily booked intercity train is believed to be the 10.03am GWR from London Paddington to Penzance on Saturday 23 December.
Engineering work by Network Rail begins as early as 23 December, with TransPennine Express warning of extended journey times between Leeds and York.
National Express coaches are most heavily booked on 23 December, while rivals Flixbus and Megabus report equally heavy demand on 22 and 23 December.
The final Friday and Saturday before Christmas are also the peak days for P&O’s ferry links from Dover to Calais and Cairnryan to Larne.
Road users can expect multiple peaks, according to Rod Dennis from RAC Breakdown.
He expects something of a double wave of getaway trips in the run-up to Christmas this year. It is reflecting the fact that schools break up on alternate weeks.
Christmas Day is normally a very quiet day for travel within the UK and abroad.
But 25 December 2023 will see more flights to and from British airports than ever – as well as record numbers of intercity coaches within the UK.
These are the key figures and advice for travellers over Christmas.
Air
Heathrow will handle almost a quarter-of-a-million passengers on Friday 22 December.
Nearly 800 flights will operate from the UK’s busiest airport on Christmas Day. The most popular routes are to New York JFK and Dubai.
Dubai is also one of the top five destinations from Birmingham airport, along with Dublin, Tenerife, Geneva and Amsterdam.
Glasgow airport will handle more than 10,000 departing passengers on three days over Christmas: 22, 28 and 29 December.
Edinburgh airport will handle more than 7,000 passengers on Christmas Day – one-sixth of the normal levels. After Friday 22 December, the busiest day at the Scottish capital’s airport will be Friday 29 December.
Liverpool John Lennon airport will see 30 per cent of average daily passengers on Christmas Day, and a normal travel day on 1 January.
Rail
Avanti West Coast, says reservations are still “modest” for everything outside of the morning of the 27 December, but that 22 and 23 December may be busy too.
It connects London Euston with the West Midlands, northwest England, North Wales and southern Scotland.
On LNER, the main operator on the East Coast main line from London King’s Cross to Yorkshire, northeast England and Scotland, 23 December and 27 December are currently proving the most popular days to travel, with 30 December and 2 January also popular.
Between London and the West of England and South Wales, GWR reports that Saturday 23 December is “marginally busier” than Friday 22 December, with both dates busier than the preceding days.
The most in-demand routes are London Paddington to Exeter, Bath, Bristol Parkway, Cardiff and Plymouth, as well as Bath to Paddington.
Trains in the morning, between 9am and 10am, are much busier than later in the morning and the afternoon/evening, a spokesperson said.
No further rail industrial action is expected before Christmas.
Coach
On National Express and Megabus, the weekend of Friday 15-Sunday 17 December will be busy with many students travelling home from university. Saturday 23 December is the peak day before Christmas; afterwards, it’s Boxing Day, when few trains are running, and Wednesday 27 December.
National Express says passenger bookings are 13 per cent up on last Christmas.
Ferry
Brittany Ferries says 22 December is the busiest day over Christmas, though some spaces are still available.
A spokesperson said for those who are willing to leave it a little later there is still some good availability on Christmas Eve from Portsmouth to Caen at 8am.
P&O Ferries reports that Hull-Rotterdam will be busiest on 14-16 and 27-29 December. There will be heavy inbound booking on 15-17, 21/22 and 27/28 December.
Transport for London
London Underground will be running every day except Christmas Day.
No Elizabeth Line services on Boxing between Ealing Broadway and Paddington on Sunday 24 December and Wednesday 27 December 2023, due to work on HS2.
The central London Congestion Charge will not operate from Monday 25 December to Monday 1 January.
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