British holidaymakers are shunning the eurozone in favour of long-haul destinations and non-euro countries, according to the latest figures.

Skyscanner, an online flight booking website, has seen flight searches to eurozone destinations fall by as much as 15 per cent, compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, searches for flights to long-haul destinations such as Bangkok (up 271 per cent) have surged, while Turkey (outside of the eurozone) features three destinations in the list of top 10 searches. Since May 2008, sterling has fallen by 13 per cent against the euro.

According to statistics released today by the accountancy firm, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), between January and March, 27 travel companies collapsed compared with 11 in the same period last year.

Over the past 12 months some 78 companies have failed – up from 49 in the previous year.

Insurance advisers have long underlined the importance of “portable” cover for expatriates. And recent events would seem to justify this advice.

Unforeseen economic shocks reverberating around the globe have forced many well-established expatriates to reconsider long-term plans. The draw of home state can become irresistible when a plunging pound slashes the value of one’s pension and sterling-based investments.

The controversial move was announced today after a third of passengers on the Irish airline’s website voted in favour of charging fees for obese passengers.

“Over 100,000 passengers took part in our competition and almost one in three think that very large passengers should be asked to pay a fat tax,“ said Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara. “A ‘fat tax’ will only apply to those really large passengers who invade the space of the passengers sitting beside them.”

Thousands of British holidaymakers were facing disruption last night after the collapse of online tour operator and travel agent Freedom Direct Holidays.

The Newcastle-based company ceased trading on Thursday, with 200 of its customers currently overseas and up to 10,000 holding advanced bookings.

Freedom Direct had financial cover as it was a full member of travel organisation Abta. In addition, all holidays booked until the end of last month were covered by the Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (ATOL) system run by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

A report released by Sainsbury’s Finance this week found that a further 500,000 people with medical conditions travelled abroad over the past 12 months with no travel insurance.

It estimates that 267,000 people with heart problems failed to inform their insurance companies about their condition, while 206,000 people with respiratory problems did the same.

Fears of being refused cover or the need to secure a cheaper premium during the economic downturn were cited as the main reasons why people failed to accurately inform their insurance providers of conditions.

The blockade at the port of Calais is also causing motorway disruption in Kent, police have said.

Fishing fleets have been stopping ships entering or leaving Calais, Boulogne, and Dunkirk, in a dispute over fishing quotas, since Tuesday.

Services to Boulogne and Dunkirk have also been called off until further notice, P&O said.

The blockade at Calais was temporarily lifted overnight but was brought back in early on Wednesday.

An estimated 10 million people were on the move in the UK over Easter with two million travelling abroad.

Those travelling by rail will have to contend with the closure of the West Coast Main Line between Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire and Rugby in the West Midlands until noon.

Services in and out of London’s Liverpool Street and Waterloo stations will also be disrupted by engineering work, although 64,000 train services were running over the holiday period – around 5,000 more than last Easter.

Two million Britons are expected to go abroad this Easter, up 20 per cent on last year, with tomorrow expected to be the busiest day at UK airports.

The surge in foreign holidays follows widespread reporting in recent months that global recession will bring a bumper year for British tourism, with more of us holidaying at home.

Crews have been told that they will have to bring their own beverages on board – even though the airline will still allow them to use the plane’s hot water.

The move is the latest reflection of the downturn in the aviation industry which has seen airlines cutting unprofitable routes in an attempt to make savings.

Last November the airline reported a 45 per cent fall in profits, largely because of the soaring cost of aviation fuel during the summer.

Stephen Mason, managing partner of Travlaw, which specialises in travel litigation, said that the company had witnessed a record increase in claims over the winter. He warned that operators can expect an ever bigger rise in new claims this summer, as holidaymakers ensure they get value for money from their breaks during the economic downturn.

These claims can vary from travellers seeking compensation for holidays that fail to live up to brochure descriptions to illnesses or injuries sustained while abroad.

Heathrow’s Terminal 1 finished bottom of the Which? Holiday magazine satisfaction table with a score of 31%, with the west London airport’s Terminals 2, 3, and 4 the next least-popular with those polled.

Gatwick’s two terminals finished just above the Heathrow terminals in the table.

The only good news for Heathrow was that Terminal 5 (T5) – which had a disastrous opening last year – finished around half way up the satisfaction table with an overall score of 54%.

British holidaymakers are finding prices up to three times higher in cities in the Eurozone than in those outside it, research has shown.

In an analysis of the price of holiday essentials in a dozen European cities, the Post Office found that items ranging from drinks and postcards to airport transfers and hotel rooms in Budapest, Warsaw and Prague cost about a third of those in cities such as Athens.

Online searches for the Channel Islands off the French coast of Normandy, including Guernsey and Jersey, have increased by 101 per cent, in comparison to the same time last year, according to Expedia.co.uk

Guernsey and Jersey are both British Crown dependencies, despite not being part of the United Kingdom and they have a total population of about 158,000.

Chris Elliott, VisitGuernsey’s director of marketing and tourism, said: “We have seen increased interest in the islands.

The Department of Health is warning Britons travelling to the islands, which include Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark and Herm, that from April 1 they must ensure that they have adequate travel insurance.

Last year, more than 550,000 Britons travelled to the Channel Islands and that figure is expected to rise in 2009. According to Expedia.co.uk, an online travel agent, searches for holidays to the islands in February doubled compared to the same month last year.

The European Union is ready to set up a new body to order airlines to pay travellers compensation when their baggage fails to arrive.

It would mean that passengers no longer have to sue airlines who refuse to pay out.

The EU announced an investigation into the growing problem of lost luggage after it was disclosed that 42 million bags failed to arrive at the same time as their owners in 2007.

The European Union decided Monday not to enforce a travel ban against Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, hoping to encourage democratic reforms and dilute Russian influence over its neighbour.

EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels, held off using their political stick on Minsk by deciding to uphold a suspension of the travel ban — aimed at Lukashenko and 35 other senior officials — for nine more months.

Boris Johnson, the capital’s mayor, is reported to be considering varying the price drivers pay according to the time of day.

It could see the charge increasing from the current £8 a day for those who come into the zone during the rush hour while a discounted rate would apply at other times.

The ideas are based on the successful implementation of congestion charging in Sweden, which has even been endorsed by a referendum.

Cosmos Holidays is offering a seven-night holiday in Cyprus for two in June for £1,091 – a saving of £470.

Thomas Cook, a leading holiday company, has said that their summer holiday targets will only be met if they enjoy a last-minute surge of bookings, according to The Daily Mail.

Meanwhile Thomson, the country’s biggest holiday company, is offering hundreds of pounds off the price of foreign trips, the newspaper said.

The Junta has declared that the Almeria – Seville air bridge is to be declared “in the public interest”, which opens the way for public financing of the route. The route will operate two daily returns on workdays (leaving at 7, returning at 9am, and in the evenings leaving at 7,30 returning at 9,30), and one on weekends. The maximum ticket price will be €117.