Typically the site records its highest traffic levels at the start of the year, with the majority of people booking their summer holidays during January and February.
However this year, following the traditional January upsurge, Skyscanner experienced a second traffic spike in March and then another ‘clearly defined spike’ in May, when traffic was 24.5% higher than in January.
Barry Smith, Skyscanner director and co-founder, commented: ‘Traffic on Skyscanner is up by almost 85% compared to last year, which in itself reflects the market’s drive to find the best value, but what’s really interesting is the difference in user patterns.
‘The tough economic times may be changing the way people book travel, but they are definitely still travelling, even though financial uncertainty may make them more cautious about booking a long time in advance.
‘We are now seeing another spike in visitors which we would normally only expect to see in January.’
The top ten European summer destinations for British travellers searching on Skyscanner are currently: Malaga; Alicante; Palma; Faro; Dalaman; Barcelona; Tenerife; Ibiza; Murcia; and Paris.
Skyscanner, which is available in 20 different languages including French, German and Spanish, provides instant online comparison on flight prices for over 670,000 routes on more than 600 airlines.
Users can browse flight prices without having to enter specific dates or even destinations.
See also:
Hotels in Spain '30% full for July and August' (08/06/2009)
No sign yet of late bookings (05/06/2009)
TUI UK introduces coach/excess bag fees on lates (01/06/2009)
Thomson revamps shop displays to woo lates (29/05/2009)
Sterling boost for late bookings (28/05/2009)