Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK country manager, said that skiing holidays were “well and truly back on”, following the end to France’s ban on vaccinated UK holidaymakers.

EasyJet joined other travel firms in seeing a spike in demand for last-minute ski trips since the French government’s announcement on Thursday (13 January).

“We know that there is pent-up demand, with many desperate to get away this year, which we continue to see each time restrictions are removed,” added Gayward.

“With flying already scheduled to increase in the coming weeks we will continue to review our schedule to meet demand and we look forward to taking our customers away on a long-awaited break this winter.”

As well as strong demand for France, easyJet added there had also been a significant increase in bookings for Switzerland – Geneva is one of the main gateway airports to the French Alps.

The airline added consumer confidence in international travel “continues to build”, despite the impact of the Omicron variant over the past few weeks. Research shows that 65% of Britons are planning to “prioritise” a trip abroad this year.

EasyJet is operating 37 winter routes from the UK to 10 destinations in Europe, which serve the continent’s major ski resorts.