Prepare for summer holiday rush, flyers urged

Holidaymakers have been urged to plan well ahead as the start of the summer holidays means that two million Britons will be heading abroad this weekend.

Between July 20th and 23rd, airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick are expected to become particularly busy as up to 700,000 passengers fly from those hubs, according to the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta).

Stansted, Luton and Manchester airports are also set to see hundreds of thousands of passengers between them.

Abta advises travellers to take public transport to the airport wherever possible as drop-off facilities may be limited and to remember restrictions on liquids and how much hand luggage they can take.

"We all remember the excitement we felt when the summer holidays started. This year that excitement will be even greater as hundreds of thousands of families escape the rain for fun in the sun abroad," commented Justin Fleming, president of Abta.

Earlier this month, Abta launched an online account service that allows families going overseas to store and access vital information such as emergency contact numbers, passport details and insurance information securely on the internet.

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