Why over 60 per cent of secondary schools in the UK now use air travel for some of their school trips

A recent survey relating to the organisation of school trips found that over 60% of schools either regularly or occasionally use air travel for part of the journey.

At the same time four out of five schools commented that cost was always the major factor that influenced how they arranged school journeys.

Of course, it only takes a moment to see the implication: for many journeys the use of air travel for school trips can be not only a far quicker way of reaching the destination, but it can actually be more cost effective as well.

The reason for this is that school journeys offer airlines the one thing that the airlines want beyond everything else: group bookings made a long way in advance.

Indeed many schools have been amazed by the fact that their natural inclination to book the trip a long way in advance should be so attractive to airlines.

But the fact is that for schools the most common period for booking is between nine months and a year before the journey. Half the schools that completed the survey cited this as their normal booking time.

Combine that with the fact that a school party of any size is liable to attract discounts for bulk bookings and this shows exactly why schools are looking at airlines and some (although admittedly not all) airlines are responding.

If your school utilises air travel for some of its school journeys, or if you feel that parents, teachers and students would welcome the faster travel and lower costs that can accrue from making part of the journey by air, German Travel Centre’s reservation technology enables us to give you the chance to make the most of your school booking.

We book and issue our own tickets, enabling us to keep full control of your booking and ensure that your journey meets your needs.

What’s more, as we are ABTA and ATOL holders you can be assured that you and your students are fully protected (as recommended by the Health and Safety Executive for schools) should the airline fail.

Because we have so many locations to and from which we can fly, the best way to explore the possibilities is either to call one of our specialist group reservation advisors on 020 8429 2900 or email us at groups@germantravelcentre.co.uk with the details of your requirements.

You can also go to our website for more information.

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