REGIONAL UPGRADES Across the country, regional airports have seen their expansions approved. Bournemouth is set to combine its departure and arrival terminals and receive a public transport interchange, while Glasgow and Manchester have added new passenger facilities – with Jet2 also building a huge engineering hangar at the latter. Bristol is bidding to increase capacity from 10 to 15 million passengers, and plans for the reopening of Doncaster-Sheffield airport (pictured), closed since 2022, were announced in April.
NEW BAGGAGE RULES In time for the summer peak, Ryanair increased the size of its carry-on bag allowance by 20%, to dimensions of 40cm x 30cm x 20cm. In further baggage news that will please many passengers, in June the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee voted in favour of a proposal to standardise cabin baggage across airlines operating in Europe – with a free personal item and a 7kg small cabin bag offered as standard.
PREMIER CLASS The appeal of flying in style never fades. A report by Iata in August showed global travellers booking premium cabin classes grew by 11.8% in 2024 – just outpacing economy travel, which grew at a rate of 11.5% year on year. Europe was the largest market for international premium class travel, with almost 40 million travellers. Carriers have been upping their game in premium classes too: British Airways’ new seat in First, with 32-inch TV screens and available on Airbus A380 flights to the US, will come into service in mid-2026.
INFLIGHT INNOVATIONS
Airlines have been tweaking the inflight experience this year. In July, British Airways
began a Bring Your Own Device pilot scheme, letting users stream the inflight entertainment from their phone, laptop or tablet. And Tui is giving passengers the option to book more than 1,500 Tui Musement activities during their flight (pictured), accessed via the airline’s digital platform – a payment link is emailed after landing. Virgin Atlantic says it will offer free ‘streaming-quality’ Starlink Wi-Fi from autumn 2026.
RECORD FIGURES Some 141 million passengers went through UK airports in the first half of 2025, and many flights are operating at near capacity, even in low season. For example, airlines including Ryanair and Wizz Air reported load factors of 94% and 93% respectively in September. Some airlines are also posting record profits this year: Jet2’s annual profits for the year to March soared by 12% to £593 million.
SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS Work towards the aviation sector’s goal of achieving net zero by 2050 continued. In July, the government announced a £63 million funding boost, shared between 17 UK-based sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) developers, intended to make the UK a leading producer. In January, Heathrow unveiled an £86 million scheme to incentivise airlines to switch to SAF by approximately halving the price gap between kerosene and its cleaner alternative.
A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR
“Ice Travel Group is proud to be supporting the Travel Weekly Globe Travel Awards again. They are the most wide-ranging awards in the industry and they reach all our partners, providing recognition for
excellence in the travel sector for companies, brands and destinations that best support their customers and trade partners.” STUART BARRETT commercial director, Ice Travel Group
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58 November 2
r 2025
globetravelawards.co
co..uk
PICTURE: Shutterstock/Go My Media, robert coolen, MBekir
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