Pre-Christmas getaways drive increase in air traffic 

November saw a 3.4 per cent increase in air traffic versus the previous year, with 180,417 flights in UK airspace – just over 6,000 flights a day – as travellers take to the skies for pre-Christmas getaways. 

The biggest growth this month was in overflights (flights that travel through UK airspace without arriving at/departing from UK airports), which saw an increase of 16 per cent compared to the previous year. One route that contributed significantly to this growth was Ireland – Italy, up by 19 per cent year-on-year. 

According to figures from Eurocontrol, NATS attributable delay, excluding weather, decreased by almost 10 per cent compared to last November, while handing 24 per cent of all European traffic. This month, the percentage of flights with no NATS attributable delay was 99.7 per cent.  

Kathryn Leahy, Chief Operating Officer, said: “November has continued to follow the trend of an increase year-on-year in air traffic across the UK. As our skies get busier, approaching the highs of pre-pandemic traffic levels, we continue to work with our European partners and make every effort to minimise disruption and delay. Our priority is always getting passengers to their destinations safely.”