Aviation data
View the latest data and insights from our flight searches and air traffic data to the UK.
Flight searches to the UK (ForwardKeys, 2026)
Flight searches data from ForwardKeys (an Amadeus company) 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.
Report highlights (data up to August 2026):
- The demand for the UK in August 2026, measured by flight searches x the number of passengers searched for, was on par with August 2025.
- Long haul markets in aggregate saw a large YoY decline of -23% in August 2026 driven by large declines from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. China was the only long haul market to see YoY growth.
- Short haul markets saw continued growth of 28% with double digit growth led by Spain, Italy, France and Germany.
- For a competitor view, demand for the Irish Republic was up 8% vs the previous year in August 2026.
- August 2026 growth was led by searches to Scottish destinations.
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Flight Searches Monthly Update - data up to August 2026 (ForwardKeys, an Amadeus company)
Latest trends for flight searches to the UK.
Explore the flight searches data
Use the visualisation to explore trends for flight searches to the UK.
About the data
About the 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 ForwardKeys database aggregates searches for the largest travel agencies and metasearch engines.
- The measure of ‘searches’ within the report and dashboard is based on a calculation of the number of searches which took place x the number of passengers included within each search (i.e. travel party size), giving us an estimation of the total potential demand for the destinations. Repeated searches across different platforms are present in the data.
- Data is available from 2019 to present day with a 2 week lag, with detailed data on flight searches to the UK by flight distance, trip origin, destination city, and length of stay.
- 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 - Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA and the UAE.
- Market penetration of flight searches is higher in Europe and North America, and low in Asian markets.
- This analysis only includes searches which include a stay in the UK or Irish Republic and therefore excludes day trips, one-way trips or those returning home to the UK.
- 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 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.
Air traffic to the UK (Amadeus, 2026)
Air traffic data from Amadeus integrates bookings, schedules, public statistics, and airport official statistics to model total air traffic into and within the UK.
Report highlights (data up to August 2026):
- In August 2026, inbound air traffic to the UK was on par with August 2025; after six months of year-on-year (YoY) growth.
- Inbound air traffic to the UK in August 2026 exceeded 2024 and 2023 but continued to be below 2019 levels. Forecasts predict a mixed picture for inbound air traffic over the next few months with YoY growth expected in October and December but declines in September and November. There is set to be a slow start to 2027 with the first two months of the year seeing air traffic below previous year levels. The outlook compared to 2019 is forecast to be weaker with only December 2026 seeing an uplift over the next six months.
- Inbound air traffic was level with 2025 in August 2026, while domestic air traffic dipped just below previous year levels. There are still differing trends at the inbound market level, long haul markets continued to see declines in August 2026 linked to the Middle East conflict, however, short haul markets still saw YoY growth despite a slight slowing of growth compared to July 2026.
- Amongst the top UK cities for inbound air traffic Glasgow, Liverpool and Birmingham saw the most YoY growth in August 2026. Amongst all UK cities, Durham, Shetland Islands and Newquay demonstrated the strongest growth in August 2026 compared to August 2019.
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Amadeus Air Traffic - August 2026
Explore the latest month's trends in air traffic to and within the UK.
About the data:
- The data model for Air Traffic integrates bookings, schedules, public statistics, and airport official statistics. Amadeus monitors the accuracy of their data to ensure that it remains above 90% for each market.
- Inbound within the report refers to a sum of 9 key source markets; Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and the USA. There is also data referring to the UK/domestic market. Our analysis excludes UK travellers returning to the UK from other destinations.
- The dataset includes return and one-way tickets, and it is not possible to differentiate between residents and visitors from inbound markets travelling on a one-way ticket.
- Data is available from 2019 and up to 6 months ahead of the most recent reporting month.
- Historic data may be adjusted at source in future releases.
- Please do not re-publish data from this report on any public platform, including combining the data with that from other sources, before contacting VisitBritain/VisitEngland for approval.