With New York City heading up the list as the most popular international
destination during the holiday season, hundreds of thousands more
jet-setters will be enjoying a long-distance Christmas this year, British
Airways is revealing.
It is expected that 200,000 more passengers than last year will be taking
to the skies with British Airways over the festive holiday season.

Of the 2.2 million passengers flying with the airline over the holiday
period, the busiest day for out-going passengers from London is expected
to be today (Friday, Dec. 19) with nearly 44,000 travelers departing from
Heathrow. Gatwick will host a further 13,200 passengers flying out of the
airport today.

Once again, New York has emerged as the top long-haul Christmas retreat,
with the sunny destinations of Miami and Dubai coming in at second and
third respectively.
The most popular short-haul destination is Geneva, gateway to the
ski-slopes, with the Island of Jersey and Zurich completing the top three.
British Airways launched a new service between London City Airport and
Geneva earlier this year, helping it climb to the number one slot from
fifth last year.
The Caribbean is once again the biggest draw for British Airways Holiday
customers this year, with Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua and the Bahamas all
featuring in the top five destination list.

Hundreds of British Airways staff will be forgoing their turkey dinner to
give passengers a merry send-off on the 70 flights that will be operating
from Heathrow and Gatwick on Christmas Day.

In the build up to Christmas, British Airways` passengers will be enjoying
10,000 portions of Christmas cake per day, 5,650 turkey portions, and
6,000 mince pies. And thanks to the efforts of British Airways World
Cargo, the citizens of Bermuda can expect a delivery from Britain of one
ton of mince pies to enjoy over the festive period.

For passengers with last minute present dilemmas, British Airways`
`Shopping the World` brochure has a plethora of festive offerings
including limited edition Swarovski tree ornaments, reindeer beanbag toys,
and a set of four mini bottles of Moet champagne to celebrate the New Year
in with style.
And finally, the spirit of Christmas is not lost on British Airways staff
who will once again be donating children`s books and toys to Operation
Santa. All the donations are transported by British Airways to children`s
charities. Last year over two ton of goods were collected for two
children`s charities in Tanzania. This year the airline hopes for an even
better response in order that the children of homes in Ghana and Tanzania
can experience a very merry Christmas.

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