Brits set for bank holiday exodus

Some 400,000 people will be heading away this bank holiday weekend, leaving via the UK's regional airports, according to new figures from the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).

A total of 160,000 will depart from Manchester Airport, while Southampton and Birmingham will see passenger figures hit 12,000 and 65,000 respectively, the organisation states.

ABTA also indicates that one million people will fly from the south-east's hubs - Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport, Stansted Airport and Luton Airport - on Friday and Saturday alone.

It is predicted that 400,000 passengers will pass through Heathrow's terminals, while 260,000 people will descend on Gatwick during the two days.

Justin Fleming, ABTA president, remarked: "The August bank holiday is our traditional farewell to the summer and after three months of rain it is no surprise that thousands of us are heading abroad to catch some sun and relax."

Earlier this week, Gatwick Airport advised passengers flying this weekend to try and take advantage of self-service check-ins wherever possible.

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