Aviation data

View the latest data and insights from our flight searches data to the UK.

Introduction

Flight searches data from ForwardKeys covers the volume of flight searches to the UK as well as the year-on-year growth in searches for the UK as a travel destination.

For further information, please contact [email protected].

Flight Searches to the UK (ForwardKeys)

Report Highlights (data up to May 2025):

  • Searches for the UK were down 6% in May 2025 and year-to-date searches were down 3% vs the previous year.
  • Searches from long haul markets continue to decline in May 2025 vs May 2024, while short haul markets moved just above previous year levels. Short haul markets were ahead of long haul markets when looking at year-to-date figures (4% vs 9%).
  • Netherlands and Sweden saw the highest growth in flight searches whilst China, Australia, the USA and India saw the largest declines in May 2025 vs May 2024.
  • From a competitor view, searches to the Irish Republic surpassed previous year levels in May 2025, in contrast to the decline seen for the UK.
  • England was the only UK nation to see a decline in searches in May 2025. Northern Ireland saw the largest growth with Wales and Scotland seeing more modest YoY growth. 
     

View the latest report

PDF

Flight Searches Monthly Update - data up to May 2025 (ForwardKeys)

See the latest monthly report covering flight searches to the UK.

Explore the flight searches data

Use the visualisation to explore the flight searches data, drilling down to origin city and destination city level data.

About the data

ForwardKeys Flight Searches Data

The ForwardKeys Flight Searches data provides data on the demand of the UK as a travel destination, and the level of interest for potential visitors at an early stage in the consumer journey. The data gives us an insight into which specific markets are interested in visiting the UK and how demand for trips to the UK is changing between years, months and even days.

  • The origin and destination refers to the location of the airport being searched for rather than where the search is being made from.
  • The dashboard and report inbound searches and the total represents the 15 inbound markets we have access to.
  • The dashboard includes data from 2019 to 2025 with detailed data on flight searches to the UK by flight distance, trip origin, destination city, and length of stay.
  • Data from the monthly report may differ to the dashboard as the dashboard is updated weekly, with a lag time of 2 weeks for flight searches.
  • The ForwardKeys flight searches database aggregates searches for the largest travel agencies and metasearch engines.
  • Market penetration of flight searches is higher in Europe and North America, and low in Asian markets. Although the data is ForwardKeys, the data comes from different channels to the bookings data so searches for low-cost carriers will get picked up.
  • The ForwardKeys flight searches data shows visitor interest in flying to the UK but is not an indication of actual visitor inbound numbers.
  • If this data is being used for comparing to other inbound searches, please bear in mind that the data does not capture any passengers/bookings made via train/ferry.