The easing of restrictions has seen airport passenger numbers jump fivefold. In January (the most recent figures available), 6.5 million passengers travelled to and from UK airports, according to the Civil Aviation Authority. That was five times higher than the 1.3 million who travelled in January 2021.
In January 2021, the country was in lockdown and people were discouraged from travelling to a neighbouring local authority, let alone going overseas. Those flying into the UK needed a pre-departure test and arrivals had to quarantine for up to ten days, unless they tested negative after five days.
In January this year, fully vaccinated people no longer needed the pre-departure test, didn’t need to quarantine on arrival, and could do an LFT test rather than a PCR as their post-arrival test. From March, those requirements were scrapped for all passengers.
Heathrow is the UK’s busiest airport, with 2.5 million passengers travelling to and from there in January, up from 0.7 million in January 2021. It was followed by Gatwick, with 797,013 passengers, and Manchester with 674,097 passengers.
UK airport passenger numbers - January 2022
Name // Passengers - January 2022 // Passengers - January 2021
- HEATHROW // 2,591,642 // 677,356
- GATWICK // 797,013 // 88,216
- MANCHESTER // 674,097 // 108,535
- STANSTED // 664,920 // 104,385
- LUTON // 450,454 // 118,274
- BIRMINGHAM // 241,085 // 28,972
- EDINBURGH // 182,158 // 25,597
- BRISTOL // 181,201 // 15,742
- BELFAST INTERNATIONAL // 164,618 // 19,536
- GLASGOW // 96,391 // 13,101
- NEWCASTLE // 68,758 // 4,419
- LONDON CITY // 66,837 // 6,474
- LIVERPOOL (JOHN LENNON) // 59,992 // 10,988
- ABERDEEN // 58,238 // 37,227
- LEEDS BRADFORD // 56,090 // 3,836
- EAST MIDLANDS INTERNATIONAL // 53,774 // 4,351
- DONCASTER SHEFFIELD // 27,461 // 4,862
- BELFAST CITY (GEORGE BEST) // 18,209 // 7,505
- BOURNEMOUTH // 15,576 // 866
- CARDIFF WALES // 10,437 // 470
- EXETER // 8,758 // 153
- NORWICH // 8,030 // 4,598
- PRESTWICK // 6,725 // 491
- SUMBURGH // 5,464 // 4,676
- CITY OF DERRY (EGLINTON) // 4,482 // 0
- INVERNESS // 3,425 // 414
- SOUTHAMPTON // 2,669 // 33
- HUMBERSIDE // 2,246 // 1,099
- KIRKWALL // 2,055 // 754
- BENBECULA // 1,457 // 617
- TEESSIDE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT // 940 // 0
- BARRA // 630 // 144
- NEWQUAY // 350 // 0
- CAMPBELTOWN // 274 // 62
- BIGGIN HILL // 145 // 82
- FAIR ISLE // 64 // 5
- EDAY // 24 // 50
- FOULA // 16 // 6
- OBAN (NORTH CONNEL) // 10 // 12
- COLL // 9 // 3
- COLONSAY // 2 // 2
- FARNBOROUGH // 0 // 30
- ISLAY // 0 // 2
- SOUTHEND // 0 // 447
The most popular places to travel to and from in January 2022 were Dublin, with 250,372 passengers, Dubai, with 250,125, and Tenerife, with 208,550. In January, 37,042 people travelled between the UK and Orlando, compared to none in 2021, while 40,191 travelled to and from Innsbruck, compared to 115 a year before.
Top 20 places to travel to and from UK airports
Name // Passengers - January 2022 // Passengers - January 2021
- DUBLIN // 250,372 // 30,094
- DUBAI // 250,125 // 105,372
- TENERIFE (SURREINA SOFIA) // 208,550 // 7,638
- GENEVA // 179,421 // 8,213
- AMSTERDAM // 170,592 // 47,696
- EDINBURGH // 134,393 // 17,978
- DOHA HAMAD // 118,271 // 46,687
- GLASGOW // 118,135 // 15,885
- ALICANTE // 111,818 // 10,931
- ARRECIFE // 111,140 // 3,763
- MADRID // 109,932 // 32,627
- MALAGA // 104,929 // 9,646
- NEW YORK (JF KENNEDY) // 103,461 // 13,319
- BARCELONA // 93,952 // 11,304
- ISTANBUL // 89,629 // 21,350
- LISBON // 83,886 // 16,158
- BUCHAREST (OTOPENI) // 76,078 // 34,912
- MANCHESTER // 70,625 // 18,630
- BRIDGETOWN // 67,341 // 8,540
- SOFIA // 64,831 // 22,709
However, the increase in people wanting to get away may be causing problems. Passengers at Manchester Airport have been warned they could face queues for ‘several weeks’ to come as bosses admit they are struggling with staff shortages amid a surge in international travel.
The hub is on a major recruitment drive to remedy the crisis - even looking to 'work with universities' to find temporary hires - but they have warned long waits could continue well into April. Earlier this month, it emerged firefighters had been asked to help on the baggage conveyors, while on Friday, a letter was sent to employees asking that they volunteer help out to manage queues.
However, poor experiences and queues in security are not new. Pre-pandemic, the Department for Transport ran a survey asking passengers their experience of security screening. In 2019, the majority (86%) of air passengers surveyed said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their experiences of security screening. The majority (51%) of passengers surveyed said they queued for five minutes or less whilst 20% reported queuing for more than 10 minutes.
Birmingham reported the highest proportion of satisfied or very satisfied passengers (91%), closely followed by Gatwick (90%). The highest proportions of dissatisfied or very dissatisfied passengers was reported at Manchester (9%).
The average time passengers reported that they spent queuing for security screening was 8.7 minutes, ranging from five minutes at Gatwick to 12.7 minutes at Manchester. One in 20 passengers (5%) said they had to queue for more than half-an-hour.
