Dealing with bored, over-excited and often tired kids is a situation most parents flying with children have had to deal with. And as the school summer holidays are now just weeks away, the fear factor of worn-down and weary families heading to the airport has already set in.
Luxury villa holidays specialist Oliver’s Travels has revealed what families in the North East really think about UK airports, including Newcastle, as parents with young children voiced their concerns about current facilities. Nine out of 10 families in the North East (87 per cent) feel like other types of travellers get a better experience and more than a third (36 per cent) feel like airports don’t do enough to cater for them and their children.
In a bid to improve the travelling experience for families, Oliver’s Travels has launched a campaign and official petition to encourage UK airports to better cater to the needs of families.
Extensive research by the luxury villa provider to its database of travellers, coupled with research conducted by Censuswide*, has revealed that nine out of 10 families (88 per cent) feel an improved airport experience would make their overall holiday more enjoyable.
A staggering 99 per cent of parents in the region felt their airport experience would be greatly enhanced by the introduction of a dedicated family lounge. When asked the most important features they would want to see within an airport family lounge, North East families prioritised:
- A soft play area
- More family seating areas
- Child friendly eateries
- Larger toilet facilities for families
- A film zone offering family friendly films
Oliver Bell, co-founder and owner of Oliver’s Travels, commented: “The airport is the first stage for our families beginning their holiday experience. We want to ensure that families have the best overall holiday experience and our research clearly shows that airports play an integral role in making that happen, with families across the North East reinforcing that it impacts on the overall enjoyment of their holiday.
“We want to work collectively with the wider travel industry to improve and develop the family travel offering and experience, from families leaving the house to arriving at their chosen villa, and are looking forward to seeing more airports pledge their commitment and consider implementing aspects of this across the UK.”
For more information about Oliver’s Travel’s, please visit https://www.oliverstravels.com and to sign the petition visit http://chng.it/MGbSgYJN2t.