Ski season data from aviation analytics firm Cirium and Ski Solutions, shows that scheduled December flight departures from the UK, have almost reached pre-pandemic levels (96%). Meanwhile, Ski Solutions has seen revenue from booked ski trips departing in December 2023rise 10% year-on-year, as travellers continue to seek premium leisure and adventure holidays over the Christmas period.

This December scheduled departures from the UK are projected to hit 96% of December 2019 levels, as the industry continues to see strong winter demand. Scheduled flights from UK airports are also up 16% compared to December 2022, with over 75,000 planned departures during the month.

Despite the headwinds in the economy, Ski Solutions has seen revenue from booked ski trips departing in December 2023 rise 10% year-on-year, as travellers continue to seek premium leisure and adventure holidays over the Christmas period.

From the UK, Austria has been one of the largest markets for ski season growth, with Cirium showing scheduled flights from the UK this December up 18% on 2022 and exceeding pre-pandemic flight levels by 8%. This trend has also been seen by Ski Solutions, with bookings up 48% year-on-year and 43% above pre-pandemic numbers.

The traditional skiing resorts in Italy have continued to grow this year, as bookings and flight levels from the UK edge towards pre-pandemic records. The number of scheduled flights from the UK to Italy is up 9% year-on-year, with Ski Solutions seeing bookings jump by 20% versus last December.

Norway has also been revealed as one of the industry’s up-and-coming skiing destinations, with bookings to the region up +1,420% for Ski Solutions this December versus 2019.

Long-haul ski slopes are also topping the table, as travel restrictions remain a thing of the past. Cirium data shows that scheduled flights from the UK to Canada are up 6% year-on-year and have hit 99% of pre-pandemic levels. This is supported by data from Ski Solutions, which reveals that ski bookings to the North American country are up 38% this December compared to 2022 and up a staggering 132% on pre-pandemic.

Ski Solutions’ top 10 destinations this season consist of St. Anton, Val d’Isère, Les Arcs, Obergurgl and Cervinia. Ian McIlrath, Managing Director of Ski Solutions has commented: “It’s very reassuring to see the increase in demand since pre-pandemic levels to our core countries of destination and even more pleasing to see that Ski Solutions is outperforming the market!

While France remains one of our key destinations, our strategy of offering up new resort experiences to our clients is proving successful. As a big advocate of the Austrian ski experience, it’s great to see demand growing so strongly to these resorts. Norway has been a destination that our business has focussed on over the last couple of years. It offers up a compelling snow-sure and longer season opportunity, which is starting to be recognised by many of our clients. We remain very positive about the outlook for the 2023/24 ski season.”

For a further breakdown of flights from the UK to the most popular ski gateways this winter, see below:

Source: Cirium