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When booking a holiday flights from regional airports are the preferred option for the over 50s, according to new research by Saga Holidays.

In a poll of more than 10,300 over 50s, 51% said they prefer to fly from regional airports, with 46% overall stating they even would pay more for the convenience. Only 1 in 5 said they would rather fly from larger airports, including London Gatwick and Heathrow.

The research went on to reveal that over half of respondents would change airline in order to fly from their preferred regional airport. Furthermore 1 in 4 would not book a holiday package from a travel company if it didn’t offer flights from their regional airport and 1 in 5 would change their destination altogether.

The top reasons for opting for regionals were; they were closer to home (88%) and were less busy (73%). The Saga generations also showed their travel savvy nature with 1 in 3 saying they chose regionals as they offered cheaper parking and 1 in 4 because of better transport links.

The poll revealed that 62% of respondents had flown from regionals in the past 3 years and when rating these by experience, as very good or good, the three that came out on top were Doncaster Sheffield Airport (90%), Exeter Airport (88%) and Newcastle International Airport (88%).

Maria Whiteman, Managing Director of Saga Holidays commented:

“The over 50s have a passion for travel and an appetite for adventure, they want to explore the world and discover new and exciting destinations but they clearly want to do it in a way that is as stress-free and convenient as possible. Over recent years we have seen an unprecedented interest from customers who want to travel from their regional airports.

“Accounting for 58% of the UK’s travel and tourism spending, the overs 50s are an extremely important age group for the industry. We know how important it is to keep ahead of the trends and have been increasing the number of regional departures for our holidays to meet this increasing demand, we recently added just over 290 additional regional flight options for our customers”.

ENDS

Contact Press Officer Jessica Myers email jessica.myers @saga.co.uk or call 01303 776133. Further regional stats are available if you would like to find out what they are for your area, if we have them, please contact.

Saga is a specialist in the provision of products and services for life after 50. The Saga brand is one of the most recognised and trusted brands in the UK and is known for its high level of customer service and its high quality, award winning products and services including cruises and holidays, insurance, personal finance and publishing. saga.co.uk

Populus interviewed 10,381 Saga respondents, all aged 50+ online between 20 and 27 February 2017. Data was weighted to be nationally representative. Populus is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules; for more information www.populus.co.uk

I prefer to fly from regional airports rather than large airports:

	South West	West Midlands	East Midlands	North East	Yorkshire & Humber	Scotland
NET: Agree	64%	62%	62%	74%	60%	60%
NET: Disagree	8%	7%	7%	3%	6%	6%

I would pay more to fly from my regional airport of choice:

	South West	West Midlands	East Midlands	North East	Yorkshire & Humber	Scotland
NET: Agree	54%	52%	49%	64%	51%	51%
NET: Disagree	20%	20%	22%	14%	21%	20%

I would change airlines in order to fly from my regional airport:

	South West	West Midlands	East Midlands	North East	Yorkshire & Humber	Scotland
NET: Agree	57%	56%	56%	71%	55%	64%
NET: Disagree	17%	17%	17%	8%	18%	11%

You said you have flown from the following airports, in each case please rate your experience:

	Doncaster Sheffield Airport	Exeter Airport	Gatwick Airport	Heathrow Airport	Luton Airport	Manchester Airport	Newcastle International Airport	Southampton Airport
NET: Good	90%	88%	64%	65%	45%	73%	88%	86%
NET: Poor	2%	2%	8%	9%	21%	7%	2%	3%