CAA: More Brits flying long-haul

A new report from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has revealed that the number of Britons taking long-haul flights has soared in the past decade.

Last year, 46 million UK holidaymakers travelled on a flight to a far-flung destination, compared with 32 million in 1996, the CAA says.

In tandem with this the number of long-haul flights available has also surged from 133,000 ten years ago to 227,000 last year.

Furthermore, once the EU-US open skies pact kicks in next year, nearly two-thirds of long-haul passengers will benefit from the lack of restrictions on the number of transatlantic flights that airlines can offer, the report suggests.

The CAA has announced that it will formally end its regulation of flight tickets, a move that was first announced late last year, because of this liberalisation of the market.

"Competition is increasing and with it the choice of destinations, routes and fares to the benefit of passengers. As a result, the CAA is ending its regulation of air fares," commented Dr Harry Bush, group director of economic regulation for the CAA.

A number of airlines have announced plans to capitalise on the open skies agreement, with the likes of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic set to launch transatlantic business class-only services to coincide with the pact's implementation in 2008.

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