MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Flight bookings to UK increased 149% for trips during Coronation of Charles III

Globally, searches for international flights to the U.K. increased by 81% within 24 hours of the date of the King's Coronation being confirmed.

When in October 2022, Buckingham Palace announced that the Coronation of King Charles III, would take place on Saturday, 6 May 2023, international flight bookings to the UK increased 149% for trips during those regal events.

Nearly 70 years after the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953, the landmark event is expected to draw thousands of spectators from around the world to celebrate the new monarch.

Travel market analysts released the below trend data highlighting the impact of the King’s Coronation on international travel into UK.

• Globally, searches for international flights to the U.K. increased by 81% within 24 hours of the date of the King's Coronation being confirmed.
• The top countries of origin searching for flights to the U.K. during the Coronation weekend within 24 hours of the date of the King’s Coronation being confirmed October 2022.

1. Ireland (up 580% in the day after announcement)
2. United Kingdom – domestic travel (up 442% in the day after announcement)
3. Italy (up 355% in the day after announcement)
4. Spain (up 349% in the day after announcement)
5. Netherlands (up 313% in the day after announcement)
6. United States (up 293% in the day after announcement)
7. Germany (up 257% in the day after announcement)
8. Switzerland (up 231% in the day after announcement)
9. Singapore (up 175% in the day after announcement)
10. Canada (up 172% in the day after announcement)

While the largest volume of searches for trips to the U.K. during the Coronation weekend largely originated from Europe, the United States was the #1 country to book trips to the U.K for the first weekend of May.

Based on flight bookings, these are the top 10 countries of origin travelling to the U.K. during the Coronation weekend:

United States, India, Australia, Canada, Italy, Nigeria, South Korea, Germany, Thailand, Spain.

Based on travel to the U.K. over the same weekend in 2022, Italy had been the #12 country of origin (vs. this year #5). South Korea (#7) was ranked 33rd last year and Thailand (#9) was previously ranked 23rd.

The coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms is scheduled to take place this Saturday, 6 May 2023, at Westminster Abbey. Charles acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II.

Charles and Camilla’s coronation service has been altered from past British coronations to represent multiple faiths, cultures, and communities across the United Kingdom, and is to be shorter than his mother’s coronation in 1953.

The service is to begin with Charles’s anointing, symbolizing his spiritual entry into kingship, and then his crowning and enthronement, representing his assumption of temporal powers and responsibilities. Camilla is to be crowned in a shorter and simpler rite. The royal family is then expected to travel to Buckingham Palace in a state procession and appear on the palace’s balcony.

On 7 May, the Coronation Big Lunch is scheduled to take place in the United Kingdom, allowing the public to mark the occasion with street parties. A Coronation Concert is planned to take place on the same day at Windsor Castle, with representatives of Charles and Camilla’s charities as well as members of the general public in attendance. The Big Help Out initiative, to take place on 8 May, aims to encourage community service and volunteering. Both the coronation at Westminster Abbey and the concert at Windsor Castle will be broadcast on television and streamed online.

Charles and Camilla’s coronation will be the first of a British monarch in the 21st century, and the 40th to be held at Westminster Abbey since William the Conqueror’s coronation in 1066.