Travel data shows a third of Aussies flying this Easter will be heading abroad

One in three air travellers over the Easter period are choosing to spend their time overseas, bookings data shows.

Heading overseas for the Easter break is growing in popularity and data shows one in three Australians who have booked travel for that period are flying out of the country.

Analysis of Webjet bookings for the period from April 18 to 27 shows 32 per cent are taking international flights – up from 28 per cent last year.

Bali held the top spot, while Auckland in New Zealand was second and Tokyo third – improving from seventh place last year. Los Angeles moved into the top-10 Easter getaways at fourth.

Flight Centre’s Corporate Traveller noted an increase in so-called “bleisure” travel over the period as business people tacked extra days on to work trips to London, New York, Jakarta and Shanghai.

On the domestic front, Melbourne was first choice for the Easter long weekend, followed by Sydney and Brisbane. Gold Coast was fourth and Adelaide fifth.

Airports and airlines were preparing for a very busy time as more than 2 million people were expected to fly in the week from Thursday.

Virgin Australia revealed the airline had scheduled an average of 418 flights a day over the long weekend with extra services to capital cities and holiday hotspots, as well as to Port Vila in Vanuatu and Queenstown in New Zealand.

“Flight bookings show Queenstown, Fiji, and Vanuatu are the most popular short-haul international destinations, with Perth, Cairns, Hamilton Island, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Tasmania remaining top choices for those opting to stay closer to home,” a Virgin Australia spokeswoman said.

The most popular Australian destination for the Easter break is Melbourne.

Australian Airports Association chief executive Simon Westaway said travellers should arrive well ahead of their flights, and urged them to treat staff with patience and respect.

Large-scale renovations are under way at several airports, including Brisbane, Melbourne and Hobart, which meant the journey through terminals may have changed, he said.

“Airports are not only managing short-term influxes, like those expected this week, but also preparing for the future as passenger numbers continue to increase,” Mr Westaway said.

“Ultimately these improvements will elevate customer experiences even further and invigorate the ever-evolving tourism market.”

Australia’s biggest gateway, Sydney, expected 130,000 more passengers to pass through its terminals this Easter compared with last year, while Maundy Thursday was shaping up to be the busiest day.

Extra staff have been rostered to help make the journey smoother, and Sydney Airport chief executive Scott Charlton urged travellers to plan ahead as much as possible.

“Check in online, pre-book parking and allow plenty to time to get to the airport,” Mr Charlton said.

“Over the past six months we’ve achieved a 99 per cent success rate in getting passengers through security in under 10 minutes and we’re committed to maintaining that efficiency during the holidays.”

Following the school holiday period, construction will begin on the $200m upgrade to Sydney’s T2 terminal to help accelerate the path from kerb to gate.

Key features of the upgrade include self-service check-in kiosks and advanced bag-drop systems which will increase baggage processing rates by 300 bags an hour.

New scanners will speed up security processing from 250 to 500 passengers an hour, by allowing travellers to leave laptops and aerosols in their hand luggage.

Originally published as Travel data shows a third of Aussies flying this Easter will be heading abroad