Published: 19 October 2026
Where Did We Fly in Summer 2026? The UK’s Most Popular Destinations
Where did everyone fly this summer? Spain remained the clear favourite, but behind the headline figures there were some interesting changes in where passengers were travelling.
Our analysis of figures from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) shows that international passenger traffic through UK airports reached 80.9 million journeys between June and August 2026, an increase of just 0.9% compared with the same period in 2025.
However, that modest overall growth hides some significant differences.
Traffic between the UK and mainland Spain increased by 7%, Barcelona saw a 13% rise and London Luton Airport continued to grow strongly. Meanwhile, passenger numbers to Turkey fell by 10%, Dubai was down 28% and both Heathrow and Gatwick recorded declines.
We analysed the CAA’s latest figures to identify the most popular countries, destinations and individual flight routes, as well as which UK airports gained or lost passengers during the summer.
One important distinction: these figures measure international passenger journeys through UK airports, not just British holidaymakers heading overseas. They also include people visiting the UK and passengers connecting between flights, so the results reflect a much wider picture of international air travel.
What stood out?
- International passenger journeys: 80.9 million (+0.9% vs 2025)
- Mainland Spain traffic: 13.44 million (+7% vs 2025)
- Turkey traffic: Down 10% vs summer 2025
- Heathrow and Gatwick lose international passengers as Luton and Stansted grow
Countries
Top 10 International Passengers June-September 2026
| Rank | Country | Passengers (m) | Change v 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain (excluding Canary Islands) | 13.44 | +7% |
| 2 | USA | 6.01 | -5% |
| 3 | Greece | 5.64 | +4% |
| 4 | Italy | 5.53 | +7% |
| 5 | Turkey | 3.89 | -10% |
| 6 | Ireland | 3.87 | +5% |
| 7 | France | 3.82 | +3% |
| 8 | Spain (Canary Islands) | 3.32 | +1% |
| 9 | Portugal (excluding Madeira) | 3.17 | +7% |
| 10 | Germany | 3.00 | -6% |
Spain dominates international airline passenger traffic from the UK with over 13m passengers flying to and from the mainland and a further 3.4m passengers visiting the Canary Islands.
Turkey fell by 10% overall but not to Istanbul which was flat. Summer hotspots such as Dalaman (-17%), Antalya (-12%), Bodrum (-17%) and Izmir (-16%) were all significantly down, probably due to oversupply of seats last year and perceived proximity to the Gulf.
Outside the top 10, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Slovenia have seen the largest percentage increases versus the same 3 months in 2025.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, passenger traffic between the UK and the Gulf Countries fell significantly with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain all down more than 10% compared to last year.
Destinations
These figures combine traffic to each destination from all UK airports. For example, Dublin includes passengers travelling to and from Dublin from Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham and other UK airports. Individual airport-to-airport routes are shown separately further below.
Top 10 International Passengers June-September 2026
| Rank | Destination | Passengers (m) | Change v 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dublin | 2.87 | +5% |
| 2 | Palma de Mallorca | 2.81 | +2% |
| 3 | Alicante | 2.21 | +8% |
| 4 | Malaga | 2.11 | +5% |
| 5 | Amsterdam | 2.09 | -4% |
| 6 | Faro | 1.84 | +7% |
| 7 | Barcelona | 1.61 | +13% |
| 8 | Tenerife South (Reina Sofia) | 1.39 | -1% |
| 9 | Paris Charles De Gaulle | 1.23 | +8% |
| 10 | Antalya | 1.22 | -12% |
Dublin was the most popular international destination for flights from the UK over the summer, reflecting the historical and cultural ties between Britain and Ireland. Indeed, London (all airports) to Dublin is actually one of the busiest flight corridors in the world with over 4.5m passengers for the full year 2025.
Barcelona has seen a significant increase in traffic, primarily due to a doubling of the number of passengers on flights to/from London Luton. Antalya’s decline of 12% reflects the reduced Turkish traffic from many different airports across the UK.
Dubai saw the steepest fall in absolute numbers – a drop of 449,000 passengers, down 28% year on year.
Routes
| Rank | Route | Passengers (m) | Change v 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heathrow-New York JFK | 0.80 | -14% |
| 2 | Heathrow-Dublin | 0.54 | +5% |
| 3 | Heathrow-Dubai | 0.44 | -28% |
| 4 | Heathrow-Los Angeles International | 0.42 | -4% |
| 5 | Gatwick-Malaga | 0.41 | +2% |
| 6 | Heathrow-Doha Hamad | 0.40 | -29% |
| 7 | Heathrow-Amsterdam | 0.39 | -1% |
| 8 | Heathrow-Singapore | 0.38 | +2% |
| 9 | Heathrow-Madrid | 0.37 | 0% |
| 10 | Heathrow-Toronto | 0.37 | +3% |
Heathrow-New York was actually the busiest international route to/from the UK in terms of passenger traffic over the 3 months, although traffic actually fell 14% compared to 2025. Possibly due to the situation in the Gulf, Dubai and Doha both fell compared to last year.
Outside the top 10, some re-jigging on routes to Rome Fiumicino saw Luton, Heathrow, Birmingham and Glasgow increase traffic significantly, but this was offset by significant declines at London City and Gatwick.
UK Airports
Top 10 International Passengers June-September 2026
| Rank | Airport | Passengers (m) | Change v 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heathrow | 21.67 | -2% |
| 2 | Gatwick | 11.99 | -4% |
| 3 | Manchester | 9.51 | +2% |
| 4 | Stansted | 8.70 | +5% |
| 5 | Luton | 5.26 | +9% |
| 6 | Edinburgh | 4.24 | +7% |
| 7 | Birmingham | 4.13 | +2% |
| 8 | Bristol | 3.12 | +1% |
| 9 | Newcastle | 1.68 | +8% |
| 10 | Liverpool (John Lennon) | 1.61 | +3% |
The list of top 10 UK airports for international passengers is probably no surprise but interesting to note that Heathrow and Gatwick were the only ones to see a decline in passenger numbers.
Stansted and Luton saw the largest increases in absolute passenger numbers but among the smaller airports, Jersey (+31%) Cardiff (+16%) and Southampton (+11%) all performed well.
Our Take
At first glance, summer 2026 looks like a fairly uneventful year for international air travel through UK airports. Passenger numbers increased by just 0.9% compared with 2025, suggesting relatively little overall change.
However, looking beneath the headline figures reveals a rather different picture.
Spain continues to dominate, with mainland destinations attracting more than 13 million passenger journeys over the three summer months. Growth was particularly strong in Barcelona and Alicante, while Greece, Italy and Portugal also performed well.
Turkey tells a different story. Passenger traffic fell 10%, with particularly sharp declines at several popular holiday airports. The fact that Istanbul remained broadly unchanged suggests the weakness was concentrated in the leisure market.
There were also substantial falls on several long-haul routes. Heathrow–New York JFK remained the busiest individual international route, but passenger numbers declined by 14%, while Dubai and Doha saw even larger reductions.
Perhaps the most interesting development was the difference between UK airports.
Heathrow and Gatwick both handled fewer international passengers than in summer 2025, while Stansted, Luton, Edinburgh and Newcastle recorded strong growth. Among smaller airports, Cardiff, Southampton and Jersey also performed particularly well.
Of course, these figures measure passenger journeys rather than the number of British people taking holidays, and changes in airline schedules and available capacity can influence the results as much as passenger demand.
Nevertheless, the figures show that even when overall air travel is growing only modestly, individual destinations, routes and airports can be moving in very different directions.
It will be interesting to see whether these trends continue into 2027, particularly whether Turkey recovers and whether the shift in passenger numbers between London’s airports continues.
