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Christmas & New Year airport travel from Nottinghamshire

The two busiest travel weeks of the year. Here's how to plan around fog, staff shortages and full flights — and when to book your transfer.

2025-10-22 · 4 min read

The two weeks around Christmas and New Year are the busiest of the year for UK airports — and the most weather-affected. Here's how to plan.

Book everything early

  • Book your transfer 2–4 weeks ahead, not the week before. 3am pickups on 23rd, 24th, 30th and 2nd of January fill up fast — later bookings pay more or get "sorry, fully booked".
  • Book Meet & Greet, not kerbside. Every airport is chaotic; a name board in arrivals removes one variable.
  • Book direct with us, not via a broker — brokers can add £15–£30 to a fare with no benefit.

Fog and de-icing

East Midlands, Manchester and Birmingham all lose flights to fog delays in December. Add 90 minutes to your pre-flight buffer for any 5–9am departure between mid-December and early February. De-icing lengthens taxiing time; flights leave the gate on time but sit on the taxiway.

Staff shortages

Expect longer security queues over school holidays and the run-up to Christmas. Priority security is worth every penny that week.

Peak days

  • Fri 19th, Sat 20th, Sun 21st December: outbound peak.
  • Tue 23rd, Wed 24th December: last-minute outbound peak.
  • Fri 26th, Sat 27th December: early Boxing Day getaway.
  • Tue 30th, Wed 31st December: New Year outbound.
  • Sat 3rd, Sun 4th January: return peak.

On these days, add 20% to normal drive times on the M1 and M25.

Our capacity

We scale up over Christmas — but only so much. Book early, be specific about vehicle size (saloon vs MPV), and give us the flight number so we can track for delays.

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