easyJet has seen UK bookings surge within hours of the UK government confirmation that fully-vaccinated travellers will no longer be required to take a PDT (pre-departure test) to return to the UK from non-red list countries.
The change comes into effect on October 4th, ahead of the half-term holiday.
Flight bookings for the late summer season increased significantly, with beach resorts among top destinations for this autumn and travel in October proving most popular, suggesting that Brits are keen to book a late summer break getaway.
Alicante, Majorca and Tenerife in Spain and Faro in Portugal are proving to be the most popular destinations for travel in October.
In the coming days easyJet will be adding a further 51,000 seats for departures from the UK to beach destinations for October.
With Turkey no longer on the red list, extra seats have been added on flights from across the UK, including London Gatwick, London Luton, Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol Airports to Dalaman, a destination known for its natural coves, beautiful turquoise waters and protected natural park.
easyJet has also seen strong early demand for ski destinations for the New Year, with the top destinations being Geneva from Manchester, London Luton, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and London Gatwick.
easyJet operates 325 routes from the UK to 94 destinations across 35 countries in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from the UK and is one of the UK leading operators to European green and amber list destinations, with nearly two million seats still available for a late summer getaway.
Sophie Dekkers, chief commercial officer for easyJet, said: “Every time restrictions have been relaxed or removed, we have seen pent up demand, and this is no exception.
“We have seen a huge surge in bookings since the move by the government to disband the traffic light system, take away the pre-departure test and remove popular summer sun destinations from the red list.
“With Brits scrambling for last minute summer sun, particularly over the October half term, we are putting on even more flights to the most popular beach hot spots to serve this added demand.”