Figures from airline data specialist Cirium show flights scheduled to depart UK airports between April and October 2022 – both domestic and international – are currently down 14% versus the same period in 2019.

Around 594,590 flights are scheduled to take-off from UK airports between 1 April and 31 October, equating to more than 102 million seats. This is 99,000 fewer flights than in the same period in 2019, when there were more than 114 million seats available.

Rachel Humphries, Cirium communications director, said the situation was likely to change: “Airline planning is becoming much more dynamic following the impact of Covid-19. 

“For this reason, the flight schedules from April onwards could change because of fluctuating impact on flights or as airlines increase or decrease their flight schedules dependent on the travel demand. 

“At this stage of the year, amid recovery, airlines may be scheduling flights conservatively.”

EasyJet, which has said it expects to match 2019 capacity, has around 1% more flights scheduled from the UK for April to October this year compared to pre-pandemic and is once again the largest carrier, with 119,000 flights, a figure on a par with 2019.

BA, the next biggest airline, has 9% fewer departures, while Ryanair, in third place, is down 5%. In fourth place, Jet2.com is up 13% in terms of flights scheduled. It is followed by Loganair, which has taken much of the former Flybe and Bmi Regional capacity and is up 24%.

The next biggest carrier is Tui Airways, up 17% on 2019.