Flights to the sun appeal to travellers in East Midlands

Travellers heading out of East Midlands Airport in the past month have been keen to leave the cold behind and catch up on winter sun overseas.

Although passenger figures for January show that Dublin was the most popular destination, the number of people heading to Malaga, Alicante and Tenerife were not too far behind.

More than 18,000 people departed from East Midlands Airport for Dublin last month, while flights to both Malaga and Alicante carried over 17,000 travellers, with Tenerife flights carrying 15,000 visitors.

Overall, international scheduled traffic increased by 40 per cent over the same period in 2005 and it is anticipated that passenger numbers will continue to grow during 2007 with ten new routes from the airport set to begin.

Penny Coates, East Midlands Airport managing director said: “This is a really strong start to a new year and we are confident the growth trend will continue during the rest of 2007. This year we’re adding a number of new destinations and increasing our long-haul portfolio further."

Ryanair is set to add flights to Rimini to its network next month and First Choice will begin operating to Cuba in May, and Goa from March 2008.

© Cheapflights Ltd Craig McGinty