Stansted Airport is expecting its busiest weekend of the year so far as thousands of Brits head to Europe for the half-term break.

Winter sun-seekers and skiers are among the 90,000 passengers who will be departing from the airport between 11–13 February.

The numbers are in stark contrast to the 2,000 passengers who flew out of the airport during the same weekend last year.

Friday 11 February is set to be the busiest day when 31,000 passengers are expected to fly out, the day UK COVID travel testing restrictions are eased.

Over the full 10-day half-term period from 11-20 February, Stansted will welcome more than 500,000 passengers (275,000 departing, 220,000 arriving).

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

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.

“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.”

Meanwhile, Stansted is holding its first face-to-face jobs fair in more than two years this Wednesday, 9 February, at the Hampton by Hilton hotel.