Not this year: Great British summer getaway takes a pause

LONDON (AP) — The air would normally be full of anticipation with kids excitedly planning the coming two weeks and parents anxiously making sure everyone gets on the flight.

The first Friday after schools in Britain close for the summer is always one of the busiest for the country’s airports as families escape for the warmer climes of southern Europe, from Portugal’s Algarve in the west to the island nation of Cyprus to the east.

Not this year. The coronavirus pandemic has ended all that.

The concourses at London’s Gatwick Airport, which is the U.K.’s second-busiest, are eerily quiet. In any normal year, it would be the busiest day for departures with 85,000 travelers leaving - only 7,500 are set to take off Friday amid concerns about flying in the era of COVID-19.

Instead, it’s all about the “staycation" - fish and chips by the British seaside or woodland retreats inland.

“One of the hardest things for me this lockdown was the realization that I wouldn’t get to go home this year,” said Deborah Manzanares, a 48-year-old Spanish native who lives in southeast London with her husband and two pre-teen sons.

The family opted to take two week-long holidays in the U.K., instead. Walks and mini-trains and crazy golf — that’s this summer's fare.

Britain’s traditional seaside towns, such as Blackpool in the northwest of England and Margate in the southeast, are set to gain but campsites, holiday parks and other resorts in more remote parts of the U.K. are also recording bumper business, stretching out into the autumn months that usually see minimal demand.

The British government, which this month eased restrictions on international travel, has been urging families to take their vacations at home to give the hospitality sector a much-needed boost and...