Stansted Airport bosses hoping for 'bumper' half term

A whopping 31,000 passengers are expected through the terminal's gates on Friday (February 11) as Covid travel testing restrictions are eased.

Winter sun destinations in Spain and ski resorts in France and Italy are the most popular destinations.

Just 2,000 passengers flew out of the airport over the same weekend last year.

Over the full half-term period starting on Friday, Stansted will welcome more than 500,000 passengers, with 275,000 departing and 220,000 arriving.

Operations director Nick Millar said: “As schools break up for half-term and Covid travel restrictions ease further on Friday, this will be the busiest weekend so far this year.

"We are really looking forward to welcoming thousands of passengers through our doors, especially those looking forward to a long-awaited and well-deserved holiday abroad.

"We expect the airport to be very busy over half-term and we will be doing all we can to make sure everyone has a great start to their holiday.

"Our advice to anyone flying out over this period is to leave plenty of time to get to the airport, check the entry requirements for the country you are visiting, including paperwork and testing requirements, and familiarising yourselves with all the usual security rules when passing through the airport by visiting our website, stanstedairport.com.

Stansted Airport is gearing up for a busy half term

“We understand many people haven’t flown in a long time due to the pandemic, but our passengers can be reassured we have committed to implementing the highest quality Covid-19 safety measures across London Stansted.

"Passengers using London Stansted can be confident in the knowledge that our teams continue to work hard to ensure the airport experience is as safe, stress-free and seamless as possible.”

The airport is holding its first face-to-face jobs fair in more than two years this week (Wednesday, February 9).

Hundreds of jobs are up for grabs as business starts to return to normal at Stansted.