Tens of thousands of holidaymakers are expected to pass through East Midlands Airport over the next two weeks as it prepares for a major post-Covid rush.

Up to 100,000 passengers are expected to use the airport during the February semester weeks, heading to destinations including the Canary Islands, Cyprus, the French and Austrian Alps and Poland.

Management said this is in stark contrast to the time last year when the passenger terminal was closed and flights were grounded due to a ban on non-essential travel.

Passenger numbers will be around 80% of pre-Covid levels, and a big improvement on last summer, when it was around a third of the pre-Covid average.

From 4am on Friday, anyone fully vaccinated will no longer need to take a Covid-19 test to return to England or self-quarantine on arrival.

The airport is, however, warning anyone planning to travel internationally to check Covid requirements where they are heading.

Castle Donington Airport recently announced the appointment of 150 new staff to fill customer-facing roles within its security, parking and passenger services teams as it expects a spring season and busy summer for passenger travel.

Michael Grimes, its director of customer services and security, said he looked forward to welcoming passengers again over the next two weeks.

He said: “For many people, this may be their first overseas trip since the pandemic began, and we want the travel process at our airport to be as seamless as possible. possible.

“We are really excited about our high season which runs from April 1 to the end of October. “Hopefully the airport will look more like it did before Covid.

“We work hard to ensure that the user experience at East Midlands Airport is truly positive and that we make the journey for our customers as easy as possible, especially as many people will not have flew for a while.

“Our recruitment drive is underway as we seek to increase our workforce in anticipation of an influx of happy holidaymakers in the weeks and months ahead.”

Airlines serving the airport serve more than 30 destinations per minute, including winter sun resorts in southern Spain and the Canary Islands as well as major ski resorts.

Tenerife, Alicante, Lanzarote and Malaga top the list of the most popular destinations, while there is also strong demand for trips closer to home in Dublin.

A spokesperson said: “The airport hopes that February’s midterm will mark the start of a period of sustained recovery after two of the toughest years for the aviation industry.

“If East Midlands achieves its target of welcoming three million passengers through the airport this year, that would be equivalent to 80% of pre-Covid levels.

“It would be a significant improvement on last year when for much of the peak summer season passenger levels did not exceed 30% of pre-Covid volumes.”

The airport is organizing a job fair between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday 26 February.