Cheap flight site Skyscanner saw an unprecedented spike in user traffic last month (May 09), reflecting a surge of late bookings which has led to record visitor numbers. Typically Skyscanner experiences its highest levels of user traffic at the start of the year, with the majority of people booking their summer holidays during January and February.

However, this year  user patterns are very different; following the January 09 rush, Skyscanner experienced a second spike of traffic in March and then another clearly defined spike in May with user traffic 24.5% up on the January spike, which has led to new record numbers of visitors on the Skyscanner site.

Barry Smith, Skyscanner director and co-founder commented: “Traffic on Skyscanner is up by almost 85% compared to last year, which in itself reflects the market’s drive to find the best value, but what’s really interesting is the difference in user patterns. The tough economic times may be changing the way people book travel, but they are definitely still travelling, even though financial uncertainty may make them more cautious about booking a long time in advance. We are now seeing another spike in visitors which we would normally only expect to see in January.”

The top ten European summer destinations for British travellers searching on Skyscanner
   1. Malaga
   2. Alicante
   3. Palma
   4. Faro
   5. Dalaman
   6. Barcelona
   7. Tenerife
   8. Ibiza
   9. Murcia
  10. Paris