11:53

Easter Get Away

Twelve thousand travellers depart for holidays in warmer climes

Exeter Airport is gearing up for its busiest Easter for a long time as passenger numbers are expected to top 38,000 over the two week school holiday break, with up to 10,0000 expected to travel between Good Friday and Easter Monday alone.

Twelve thousand travellers will depart for holidays in warmer climes and hundreds are opting for brand new services from Thomas Cook to the non-euro destinations of Dalaman. Antalya and Tunisia offering great value and guaranteed sunshine

Passengers are also preparing for their Easter breaks in Cyprus, Madeira and Malaga as well as the Canary Islands of Lanzarote and Tenerife.

Exeter Airport’s managing director, Jamie Christon said; “The current spate of wet weather which looks to be continuing into the weekend and the temptation of our new routes with excellent offers are encouraging people to get away this Easter. Passengers on our first flight to Dalaman this Thursday evening for example will be enjoying temperatures around 23 degrees when they start their holiday and with some offers under £300 per person for a week, you can understand the interest in these breaks.”

The volume of passengers to Exeter using the Flybe UK mainland services are expected to be higher than normal due to the potential disruption to rail services and over 2,500 travellers are expected on the inbound and outbound flights over the long weekend. Christon continued; “We are taking large volumes of calls from worried members of the public who had planned to visit friends and relatives by rail to celebrate Easter and are instead opting to fly. Similarly, more families looking to enjoy a break in the South West over the next couple of weeks are expected to fly rather than meet congestion on the road network or cancelled train services.”

The popular Flybe French routes to Bergerac and Rennes recommence on Sunday and Exeter anticipates greater use of the links to Paris and Amsterdam because of the continued disruption to the British Airways services from other airports.