With the summer shaping up, cheap flights comparison site Skyscanner looks ahead to see which are set to be the most popular destinations with UK travellers.

Spanish hotspots Alicante, Malaga and Palma hold on to the top three places, Portugal’s Faro and Dalaman in Turkey both remained solid at 4th and 5th, whilst Tenerife (6th) and Ibiza (7th) both moved up a place.

Perhaps marking the move out of recession, all three new entries to the top ten are long haul destinations. New York entered at 8th while Orlando, home to Universal’s highly anticipated Harry Potter World, took the 9th spot. Despite political unrest in Thailand, flights to Bangkok are still very popular with British tourists, with the city entering in 10th place, the only Asian destination in the top ten.

Barry Smith, Skyscanner Co-founder commented:

“Last summer there were no long haul destinations in the top ten and Spain took seven of the top ten places. This summer, it looks like budgets are a little bigger with more people taking flights to New York, Orlando and Bangkok. So far the ash doesn’t seem to be putting people off from travelling further afield.”

2010 Most Popular searched for destinations for summer travel
1.    Alicante (Spain) [+1]
2.    Malaga (Spain) [-1]
3.    Palma (Spain) [0]
4.    Faro (Portugal) [0]
5.    Dalaman (Turkey) [0]
6.    Tenerife (Spain) [+1]
7.    Ibiza (Spain) [+1]
8.    New York (USA) [NEW ENTRY]
9.    Orlando (USA) [NEW ENTRY]
10.  Bangkok (Thailand) [NEW ENTRY]

Most searched for destinations for travel dates between: 1st June – 31st August 2010

2009 Most Popular summer destinations
1.    Malaga (Spain)
2.    Alicante (Spain)
3.    Palma (Spain)
4.    Faro (Portugal)
5.    Dalaman (Turkey)
6.    Barcelona (Spain)
7.    Tenerife (Spain)
8.    Ibiza (Spain)
9.    Murcia (Spain)
10.  Paris (Paris)

Most searched for destinations on Skyscanner for travel dates between: 1st June – 31st August 2009