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Wales Online
Wales Online
Entertainment
Claire Miller

Easing of restrictions has seen passenger numbers jump fivefold as airports struggle to cope

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

  1. HEATHROW // 2,591,642 // 677,356
  2. GATWICK // 797,013 // 88,216
  3. MANCHESTER // 674,097 // 108,535
  4. STANSTED // 664,920 // 104,385
  5. LUTON // 450,454 // 118,274
  6. BIRMINGHAM // 241,085 // 28,972
  7. EDINBURGH // 182,158 // 25,597
  8. BRISTOL // 181,201 // 15,742
  9. BELFAST INTERNATIONAL // 164,618 // 19,536
  10. GLASGOW // 96,391 // 13,101
  11. NEWCASTLE // 68,758 // 4,419
  12. LONDON CITY // 66,837 // 6,474
  13. LIVERPOOL (JOHN LENNON) // 59,992 // 10,988
  14. ABERDEEN // 58,238 // 37,227
  15. LEEDS BRADFORD // 56,090 // 3,836
  16. EAST MIDLANDS INTERNATIONAL // 53,774 // 4,351
  17. DONCASTER SHEFFIELD // 27,461 // 4,862
  18. BELFAST CITY (GEORGE BEST) // 18,209 // 7,505
  19. BOURNEMOUTH // 15,576 // 866
  20. CARDIFF WALES // 10,437 // 470
  21. EXETER // 8,758 // 153
  22. NORWICH // 8,030 // 4,598
  23. PRESTWICK // 6,725 // 491
  24. SUMBURGH // 5,464 // 4,676
  25. CITY OF DERRY (EGLINTON) // 4,482 // 0
  26. INVERNESS // 3,425 // 414
  27. SOUTHAMPTON // 2,669 // 33
  28. HUMBERSIDE // 2,246 // 1,099
  29. KIRKWALL // 2,055 // 754
  30. BENBECULA // 1,457 // 617
  31. TEESSIDE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT // 940 // 0
  32. BARRA // 630 // 144
  33. NEWQUAY // 350 // 0
  34. CAMPBELTOWN // 274 // 62
  35. BIGGIN HILL // 145 // 82
  36. FAIR ISLE // 64 // 5
  37. EDAY // 24 // 50
  38. FOULA // 16 // 6
  39. OBAN (NORTH CONNEL) // 10 // 12
  40. COLL // 9 // 3
  41. COLONSAY // 2 // 2
  42. FARNBOROUGH // 0 // 30
  43. ISLAY // 0 // 2
  44. 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

  1. DUBLIN // 250,372 // 30,094
  2. DUBAI // 250,125 // 105,372
  3. TENERIFE (SURREINA SOFIA) // 208,550 // 7,638
  4. GENEVA // 179,421 // 8,213
  5. AMSTERDAM // 170,592 // 47,696
  6. EDINBURGH // 134,393 // 17,978
  7. DOHA HAMAD // 118,271 // 46,687
  8. GLASGOW // 118,135 // 15,885
  9. ALICANTE // 111,818 // 10,931
  10. ARRECIFE // 111,140 // 3,763
  11. MADRID // 109,932 // 32,627
  12. MALAGA // 104,929 // 9,646
  13. NEW YORK (JF KENNEDY) // 103,461 // 13,319
  14. BARCELONA // 93,952 // 11,304
  15. ISTANBUL // 89,629 // 21,350
  16. LISBON // 83,886 // 16,158
  17. BUCHAREST (OTOPENI) // 76,078 // 34,912
  18. MANCHESTER // 70,625 // 18,630
  19. BRIDGETOWN // 67,341 // 8,540
  20. 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.

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