Airport travel: Make UK airports more family friendly

Your holiday begins at the airport – the excitement kicks in, you’re all packed up and ready to go, and you can almost smell the beach. It’s not quite so simple when you have kids though – the airport turns into a hectic labyrinth of places you can lose them (a la Kevin McAllister), what used to be the obligatory pint at Wetherspoon’s is now a coffee to give you an energy boost (kids are tiring, who knew?), and then there’s the absolute task of finding a group of seats together… near a plug so you don’t lose iPad battery and also away from the lairy stag and hen dos. Let’s face it, UK airports just haven’t been designed with families in mind. 

Well, this was our assumption at Oliver’s Travels, anyway. So, we decided to do some research (we surveyed our travellers** and also worked with Censuswide* on a national project) to see if families feel satisfied with the facilities at UK airports – and it turns out over a third of families aren’t. So, we decided to launch a petition to help change that. 

We delved into various issues and found that 9 out of 10 parents voiced their concerns over being the least-considered group out of all travellers when it comes to airport facilities. We wanted to know if a dedicated family lounge at major UK airports would help, and 95% said that it would improve their airport travel experience. After all, why wouldn’t you want your holiday to get off to the best possible start? 

Credit: Mark Hall

The need is clear, with 3 out of 4 families saying they’re even happy to pay up to £45 for the facility, which they think should include a soft play area (45% of respondents), more family seating (30%), an area for parents to relax while the children can play (29%), a film zone (27%), and a napping zone – for children and adults (16%). 

If, like us, you’d like to see UK airports doing more for families then sign this petition to help us to get the message across, and get them to consider implementing these important changes. 

Read the Daily Mail’s article here.

*Censuswide survey from January 2019. 1,500 adults with children under the age of 12 who have flown out of a UK airport with their child/children

**Internal Oliver’s Travels database survey from December 2018. 700 adults with children under the age of 16 who have flown out of a UK airport with their child/children

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