The Great Xmas Exit: Brits leaving UK for festive period, reveals Skyscanner

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Over one quarter of Skyscanner users are ditching the UK and heading abroad this Christmas, with 1 in 14 travelling to escape family!

Last year’s ‘Big Freeze’, and the early onset of winter this year is encouraging more people to travel abroad for the Christmas.

In a recent poll by flights comparison site Skyscanner, 27% said they were travelling abroad over the Christmas and New Year period.

While 18% of those polled were embracing the festive spirit by travelling abroad to visit Christmas markets and enjoy New Year’s celebrations overseas, and 21% of those polled were flying abroad to be close to friends and family, a shocking scrooge-like 7% admitted they were happy to go anywhere just to get away from their friends and family over the festive period!

However the majority (41%) are heading to warmer climes to escape the UK’s chilly winter while 13% are heading to the mountains for a ski or snowboard holiday over Christmas or New Year.

Of those who are not leaving the UK, 33% said the main reason was because they believed it was too expensive to travel at Christmas and New Year; 32% have family commitments; 29% like staying home over Christmas and 6% have to work over the holiday and are unable to travel.

However, Sam Baldwin, Skyscanner’s travel expert commented:

“Although it seems most are put off travelling at this time of year due to the perceived expense, the rise in the number of budget airlines offering cheap flights has actually made it more affordable to fly at what has traditionally been an expensive time to travel.”

Looking at the most popular locations for Christmas it is flights to Malaga that top the charts; the Spanish sun spot holds its position from last year, probably due to a combination of the fact that so many Brits own property in the region as well as the many cheap hotel deals on offer at this time of year, making it easy to escape to the warmer Spanish climate.

Flights to Bangkok also showed a massive rise in popularity compared to Christmas 2009, rising five places in the charts. Tenerife, New York and Belfast are other popular locations to head for during the Christmas period.

Most popular Destinations for the Christmas Period
1. Malaga [0]
2. Bangkok [+5]
3. Tenerife [-2]
4. New York [-1]
5. Belfast [+4]
6. Warsaw [-1]
7. Alicante [-3]
8. Sydney [+28]
9. Dublin [+2]
10. Paris [+3]

About Skyscanner
Skyscanner is a leading travel search site providing instant online comparisons on flight prices for over 670,000 routes and on over 600 airlines, including flights to Alicante as well car hire, deals and holidays.