The pie chart illustrates the purposes for which visitors travelled through different UK airports – Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, and Stansted – in 2016.
Overall, it is clear that holidays and visiting friends and family were the main reasons for travel, whereas business and other purposes made up smaller proportions. Notably, Luton and Stansted airports were predominantly used by travellers whose main purposes were family visits and holidays, while Gatwick had the majority of tourists on holiday.
Looking at Gatwick Airport, more than half of the passengers (54%) travelled for holidays, which was the highest figure among the four airports. In addition, 30% of people went to visit friends and relatives, while only 14% travelled for business purposes. At, Heathrow Airport, the proportions were more balanced and relatively close, with 33% of passengers preferring holidays, and 37% visiting families. Moreover, travelling for business reasons came close to one third (26%).
Turning to Luton and Stansted airports, visiting family and friends were an exceptionally large share, accounting for 50% and 48% of people, respectively. Moreover, holiday travel underscored the secondary role compared to Gatwick airport, recording 35% and 36% of travelers, followed by business purposes, which were equivalent proportions – 13% in Luton and 14% in Stansted. Furthermore, other purposes exhibited minimal shares of 2% of visitors in both airports.