Aviation data

Report highlights (data up to September 2025):

• The demand for the UK, measured by flight searches x the number of passengers searched for, saw continued strong growth in September 2025, but weaker trends earlier in the year have driven lower year-to-date growth figures (3%).
• Growth from long haul markets was at 20% in September 2025, led by Saudi Arabia, Canada, the UAE and China. Short haul markets saw more moderate growth (+8%), with Italy and Spain as the top growth markets.
• Long haul markets were ahead of short haul when looking at YTD growth; 7% vs 0%.
• For a competitor view, the UK saw similar growth to the Irish Republic in September 2025.
• Growth by nations was led by Northern Ireland, Scotland and England, while Wales and the Crown Dependencies saw moderate declines in September 2025 vs 2024.
• Glasgow and Edinburgh were the top growth destinations amongst the top 5 ranking cities in the UK in September.

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.