The number of domestic UK flights has more than halved over the past 20 years, even as global air travel continues to grow.
This month, another UK regional airline, Eastern Airways, officially went into administration as our appetite for flying internally continues its steady descent.
A total of 213,025 UK flights were scheduled in 2025, compared to a peak in 2006 of 454,375 flights, research by aviation analytics firm Cirium, has found.
In other words, a fall of more than 240,000 flights, or an average daily reduction of 661 flights across the UK.
Perhaps surprisingly, cost isn’t a major factor in customers choosing to ditch flying for the car, coach or train, as fares have stayed roughly flat.
A pre-booked London to Edinburgh flight 20 years ago cost on average between £50 and £100 (once adjusted for inflation) compared with fares of around £40 – £70 today.
So what’s driving the trend?
A combination of better and more frequent train services, higher Air Passenger Duty tax, concern about the environmental impact of flying, and changing work patterns – especially since the pandemic – have all played a part.
Jeremy Bowen, Cirium CEO, said the results showed a “staggering change in the way we travel throughout the UK”.
“Airlines have responded by reducing their internal services and prioritising more popular destinations including Spain, France, and Italy,” he added.
Twenty years ago, Britain’s skies were busy with short domestic hops – British Airways (BA) and British Midland (bmi) shuttled passengers between London and the regions, and Flybe’s purple planes connected cities like Exeter, Leeds, Norwich, and Southampton.
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Counting the cost
The impact of changing demand has been brutal.
Flybe, once Europe’s largest regional airline, has collapsed twice; bmi and its low-cost arm, bmibaby, is long gone; and several UK hubs have closed their commercial operations over the past 20 years, including Doncaster Sheffield in 2022, Blackpool in 2014 and Plymouth in 2011.
Also, airlines have shifted their priorities to making greater profits from short-haul services beyond the UK.
Aviation consultant Gavin Eccles said key low-cost carriers, such as easyJet and Ryanair, “have been ordering larger aircraft which means they can fly longer sectors”.
“They need to serve routes that are predominantly with strong ancillary options [baggage, seating] and domestic is more about commuting, so fewer chances to make extra revenues,” he explained.
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Indeed, many surviving airports – like Southampton, Norwich, and Exeter – now rely mainly on seasonal leisure flights.
Domestic flights tend to be limited to feeder flights to long-distance hubs like Heathrow, Amsterdam, and Dublin, plus so-called lifeline-style services to remote regions, mostly in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Rail firms are benefitting, with passenger journeys rising from about 1.08 billion in 2005/06 to 1.73 billion in 2024/25 – an increase of around 60%, according to the Office of Rail and Road Data.
