More than 300,000 holidaymakers are planning to head to the sun this weekend in the biggest getaway of the year according to Thomson Airways, as schools break up and families begin their summer holidays.  At the same time, the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner is due to land for the first time on UK soil on Sunday 18^th July at the Farnborough air show. Thomson Airways will be the first UK airline to fly this revolutionary new aircraft which it believes will transform air travel.

The Boeing 787 has been hailed as the greatest development in aviation since the creation of Concorde in the early 1970s and will give customers not only the best flight experience, but also deliver significant benefits to the environment.

The most popular destinations this weekend are the Balearics, Mainland Spain, Canaries, Greece, Turkey and Florida according to Thomson Airways, but the Dreamliner will open up a whole new world of exciting far flung holiday destinations for customers. Flying direct from regional airports and with a significant reduction in fuel usage, the Dreamliner will allow Thomson Airways to offer affordable long haul travel to everyone.

On this busiest weekend of the year for Thomson Airways, approximately 162,000 customers are due to fly out on Saturday 17^th July and 167,000 on Sunday 18^th July.

Chris Browne, Managing Director of Thomson Airways commenting says: “It is our busiest weekend of the year and we are delighted to be flying over 300,000 holidaymakers from our 22 UK regional airports to enjoy a well deserved break in the sun. It is an exciting time for our customers and for us, as we welcome the arrival of the Dreamliner, which will revolutionise air travel as we know it and give us long term options for sustained and sustainable growth.”