Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline and the UK’s Number One Domestic carrier, reports that within minutes of the date of next year’s Royal Wedding and Bank Holiday being announced this week, there was an immediate rush for seats on all its 346 flights to and from the capital over the Royal Wedding weekend resulting in a massive 300% spike in sales to date for travel between 28th April and May 3rd*.

But the boost in sales is not only evident for those booking to travel to London to join in the festivities with services from Belfast and Jersey in particularly high demand: in addition, many more had obviously made the immediate decision to take full advantage of the extra Bank Holiday as seat sales on Flybe’s extensive non-London route network also surged - by over 250%!

Mike Rutter, Flybe’s Chief Commercial Officer, comments: “The immediate rush for booking seats online for this weekend was something quite unprecedented. There has been a lot of forecasting made over the possible economic impact on the tourism industry from the Royal Wedding however it’s already quickly proved a real boost to Flybe. Whether travellers are looking to share in Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding day in London with a convenient day return, or take advantage of the additional bank holiday by travelling farther afield, Flybe’s extensive travel network across the UK and Europe offers extensive and affordable opportunities to make this most of this much-celebrated event.”