Thinking About Escaping The UK This Christmas?

    BRIGHTON, ENGLAND, November 30, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Purple Parking figures show people are fleeing the UK rain and winds and flying away to better climes this Christmas. Overall bookings over the festive period are already up by 28% and booking values have increased by 30%. Of all the booking trends the most notable increases in bookings are at Stansted, Manchester and Gatwick.

More people are parking at Stansted with booking figures exceeding last year's Christmas bookings by 127% with still a month to go. The airport parking industry has seen an increase in the use of Meet and Greet services; an off-airport service where customers can drive up to the terminal and a chauffeur drives their car to a safe car park, delivering it back to arrivals as they return. It may be more expensive than the other off airport option, Park and Ride, but people are willing to pay for the convenience as Purple Parking has seen 151% increase in bookings for the Meet and Greet service for Stansted over Christmas.

Manchester airport parking has seen the next biggest increase with bookings over the holiday season up by 51%. This airport is bucking the trend slightly as customers are opting for cheaper parking with Meet and Greet only up 2% whereas Park and Ride figures are up 125% year on year.

Gatwick parking was the third airport to see a festive increase already beating last year's figures by 34%. Gatwick customers are choosing the convenient Meet and Greet service with an increase of 75%.

Mark Hinge, Managing Director of Purple Parking explains, "Typically Christmas has always been quieter than the summer, however we have seen a change in trends over the last few years. Nowadays the typical summer holidays are not always the preferred time for people to travel. Holidays during the winter months allow people to escape the winter weather for sunnier climes and also travel to different destinations which experience their rainy season in June, July and August and better weather in December and January."

Stansted airport parking was recently in the news after introducing a GBP2 drop off fee for passengers, encouraging people to instead use off-airport parking or public transport.

Award winning Purple Parking the UK's largest airport car parking operator, has specialised in airport car parking within the Business and Leisure travel market for over 20 years. The company offers services at 26 key airport car parks across the UK, including Heathrow Parking. Purple Parking is known for its excellent service and with its consistently competitive prices it is favoured by many customers travelling from the UK.

Website: www.purpleparking.com

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