The great Christmas exodus gets underway, as thousands of Scottish revellers prepare to celebrate Christmas away from home…
The great Christmas exodus gets underway, as thousands of Scottish revellers prepare to celebrate Christmas away from home this year.
A record breaking 102,000 passengers are expected through Glasgow Airport over the next week, with Monday 27 December likely to be the busiest day of the festive season.
Traditional sunspots Tenerife, Alicante and Las Palmas are among the most popular Christmas destinations this year, as thousands of families swap the winter chill for some festive fun in the sun.
But the launch of new services from Glasgow Airport means travellers have much more choice this Christmas.
Among the new flights launched in time for Christmas are the Czech Airlines service to Prague, flyglobespan’s service to Geneva and Thomas Cook’s service to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh.
Emirates new long haul service to Dubai, launched in April, is also proving popular with passengers travelling onwards to Australia and the Far East, while Amsterdam and Dublin and Copenhagen are popular city break destinations, particularly around New Year.
For those with an eye for a bargain, the strong pound makes New York and Toronto hard to beat for a New Year shopping spree. Skiers are also well catered for this winter, with flights to Vancouver, Innsbruck and Salzburg.
The airport is also gearing up for an influx of overseas visitors to Glasgow for the traditional Hogmanay celebration.
Glasgow Airport Terminal Manager Graham Latta said: “This Christmas is shaping up to be our busiest ever, with thousands of passengers taking advantage of new services like Dubai and Prague, and some old favourites like Tenerife and Alicante. With so many new services, the ‘difficulty’ this year is deciding where to go for Christmas.”
He added: “We’re also likely to see huge numbers of visitors to Glasgow during the festive period which is great news for the city’s tourism industry.”
Glasgow Airport will remain open throughout the Christmas and New Year period. To ensure journeys are as smooth as possible, and to avoid delays, passengers are asked to follow a few basic guidelines:
- Do not pack any sharp items in hand luggage
- Leave your Christmas presents unwrapped for security purposes
- Party poppers and Christmas crackers are not permitted at all
- Outdoor coats should be removed to pass through security checks and passed independently through the hand luggage security scanner
- Only bring one item of hand luggage
- Check in on time (check timings with airline)
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
