Christmas morning flights more popular due to cheap prices

Record numbers of people are missing out on Christmas morning in order to take advantage of cheaper flight prices, Gatwick Airport has said.

Average savings of 31 per cent are more tempting than what is beneath the Christmas tree for the crowds of passengers - 48 per cent more than last year - expected to pass through the airport on the morning of December 25 this year.

Gatwick expects its total traffic over the Christmas period to be nine per cent higher this year.

Of the significant savings on offer for flights on Christmas morning currently, a flight to Miami, for example, costs £599 for travel a week before Christmas, but is just £329 on the day itself (45 per cent less).

Another, a 5.40pm Norwegian Airways flight from Gatwick to New York JFK on Christmas Day, cost just £239 on Skyscanner, compared to £329, 24 hours later (a saving of 28 per cent).

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There is evidence that some routes are as much as 66 per cent cheaper on December 25, to Lisbon for example, flown by easyJet and TAP Portugal.

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The average saving from Gatwick to Madrid on December 25 is 56 per cent, according to Skyscanner, while Christmas flights to Rome are 54 per cent cheaper, Oslo 50 per cent cheaper and Miami 45 per cent cheaper.

The average savings were calculated based on comparisons with flight prices on Skyscanner for travel on various dates during December.

When flight times and airlines were not directly comparable, the nearest available flight with the same airline was analysed.

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“More and more passengers are wising up to the fact that flying on Christmas Day can bring with it big savings, and we expect to see a huge surge in demand compared to last year," said Guy Stephenson, Gatwick’s chief commercial officer.

Gatwick’s top 10 Christmas Day destinations – according to passenger numbers – are, in descending order:

Dubai
Madrid
Orlando
Istanbul
Bridgetown
Barcelona
Montego Bay
Las Vegas
Tenerife
Goa.

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