Long-haul holidaymakers are not phased by further rises in air passenger duty (APD), even though they add hundreds of pounds to flights.

That is according to luxury holiday company Hayes & Jarvis, which claims it is not seeing any direct impact from the hike at all.

The tax, due to rise on April 1, can add hundreds to the cost of a family of four heading for Florida, and similar for a group bound for Australia.

But despite this long-haul bookings have soared, says Hayes & Jarvis, with those for the Caribbean – said to be hardest hit by the tax – surging by 24% after April.

“There seems little evidence that APD is a concern to holidaymakers,” said Niel Alobaidi, commercial director at Hayes & Jarvis.

“While there has been negative reporting about possible implications of this latest rise in APD, we do not believe we are seeing any direct impact from this at all.”

Considering the reasons for this, Mr Alobaidi said: “From bookings so far in 2012, we think the overall value of the holiday is a key driver of demand. Customers won’t bother to break down the cost of individual parts of each package.”

But Thomson Holidays owner TUI Travel maintains the increases are “an unnecessary blow for the aviation industry as a whole and an indication of how little regard the Government has for the whole area of tourism.”

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More than three million passengers will pass through Heathrow Airport over the Easter school holidays, as families jet off on sunny breaks and to see loved ones.

Gearing up for a busy week, Heathrow is laying on additional staff, while pre-flight play areas for children will also be established.

Between Friday March 30 and Sunday April 15 the airport expects to handle 3.4 million passengers.

Friday 30 will be the busiest day – 220,000 people will pass through the west London airport. Around 190,100 visit in a normal day. The highest ever number to use the London airport in one day was 233,561 on July 31 last year.

And on Sunday April 15, the airport will see the most arrivals – some 46,000 passengers will descend on Terminal 5 alone.

But unlike the hustle and bustle at Heathrow, the roads may be fairly quiet.

RAC spokeswoman Vicki Burn told the BBC that between the strike by petrol tanker drivers, and unleaded petrol now costing on average, a record high of £1.40 a litre, people could be deterred from driving to see loved ones over Easter – instead choosing air travel for those longer trips.

“People need to be wary and keep an eye on what is happening,” she said. “My advice is not to panic-buy petrol, which will make the situation worse.”

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The number of bookings made to tourist hotspots in the West have increased and overtaken bookings made to the East, new data reveal.

According to a report by holiday company Hayes & Jarvis, the number of flights from the UK’s major airports, such as Stansted, Luton or Gatwick, to destinations in the West have risen.

The study found that holidaymakers are choosing places such as Mexico and the West Indies over some of the renowned tourist destinations in the East. The firm named St Lucia, Las Vegas and the Dominican Republic as some of the destinations which have risen in popularity among travellers this year.

Figures show that bookings made for the Dominican Republic have risen 800%, while Mexico is up 143%. Cuba and St Lucia have also enjoyed a rise in booking numbers as statistics reveal a rise of 66% and 55% respectively. In comparison, holiday bookings to Kenya have fallen 58%, while Egypt is down 22%, an overall fall on levels last year.

Niel Alobaidi, commercial director at Hayes & Jarvis, said: “We have seen massive year-on-year growth in bookings heading west to the USA, Caribbean or Latin America, clearly highlighting the importance of value in driving customer demand.

“Much of this has come about because of the competitive pricing of luxury all-inclusive packages, which are perceived as a bargain.”

Currently, Mexico is at the top of the leader board in Hayes & Jarvis’s top 10 destinations for 2012, while Khao Lak in Thailand trails behind at tenth.

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The second biggest international airport in London, Gatwick, has announced that Iceland’s national airline will expand its network with them in October.

Icelandair will fly twice weekly to Keflavik International Airport from Gatwick. The destination airport is 50km from Iceland’s capital city, Reykjavik.

Beginning on October 18, the flights will allow passengers to take a winter weekend city break in Iceland, where they can experience the Northern Lights – a spectacular natural light show.

Visitors can also use the country’s airports to take connecting flights to the USA and Canada on multi-destination trips.

From Iceland, holidaymakers can get airport transfers and fly to destinations including Boston, Denver, New York and Seattle.

Those flying with Icelandair from Gatwick can travel on Thursdays and Sundays on Boeing 757-200 aircrafts, carrying up to 189 passengers in three cabin classes.

Gatwick Airport’s chief commercial officer, Guy Stephenson, said: “We are very excited to be welcoming Icelandair to Gatwick and to be given the opportunity to support them and their plans for growth in London.

“For passengers living in London and the South East, this move will give them greater choices over how to reach this wonderful country and join connecting flights to key cities across North America.”

Walking holidays are becoming increasingly common both in the UK and around Europe.

The London to Stansted bus can provide an easy route out of the country before the hike begins, dealing with all the necessary airport transfers.

Two locations in Europe are particularly popular for that holiday stroll: Amalfi in Italy and the Lycian Way in Turkey.

Those in Italy tend towards the Amalfi-Sorrento coastline of wild mountains, old fishing towns which tumble to the water’s edge and the spectacular paths with views for miles.

At the Lycian Way on Turkey’s south coast, a popular hike is from Ovacik to Kilidonya lighthouse.

Demand is also high for routes in France where visitors like to sample local food. A seven-night trip around the Luberon, for example, will set you back £840, although that also covers the return journey to Avignon.

One firm popular with those looking for walking tours is On Foot Holidays, which helps plan routes and the little details to ensure customers need only worry about their legs. It promises to take people “into the heart of a real Europe: local hotels, local food and wine, scenery, culture, history”.

Mark Knowles, of Hampshire-based Walks Worldwide, said Albania is also popular this summer, especially the so-called Accursed Mountain trek. He said he has had to add two extra departure dates to satisfy demand.

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An airline has become the first to operate direct flights from Hong Kong to Gatwick Airport near London.

Hong Kong Airlines flew its first plane on March 7 and will run daily flights to and from the administrative region of China.

Passengers on the route are flown during the night on a 116-seater plane, which includes 34 flat-bed seats and 82 business-class seats.

The new service can also be linked to Stansted Airport for connecting flights elsewhere, by catching the London to Stansted bus.

Although Hong Kong Airlines is the only company to fly direct to Gatwick, five other companies operate flights direct from Hong Kong to nearby Heathrow Airport in west London, providing some indirect competition.

Six flights are run every day from Heathrow to Hong Kong by Qantas, five by Air New Zealand, four by Cathay Pacific, two by British Airways and one by Virgin Atlantic.

Qantas however will be stopping its Hong Kong-Heathrow flights there at the end of March.

Hong Kong Airlines spokesman Gerard Clarke said: “We have gained a reputation for outstanding service over the past five years and we look forward to extending this to our new flagship route, connecting two global business capitals of the world.

“The concept for the all club-class aircraft will provide passengers with a private jet-style ambience and an exceptional crew-to-guest ratio.

“And we are confident that we have the right knowledge and experience to make a success of the new all-club-class daily service.”

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Stansted Airport chiefs will be giving themselves a pat on the back after a record was set for the number of flights taking to the skies on time.

Civil Aviation Authority statistics show that 85% of journeys took off on time from Uttlesford last year, which is the best performance since 1991 when the Queen opened the new terminal building.

The figures show there has been a rise of 11% on 2010’s figures, and they are higher than 1991’s 71% of on-time take offs.

In the last three months of 2011, Stansted saw the largest performance increase of any airport in the UK, as there was a 16% rise on 2010’s figure with regards to the number of flights taking off on time.

Nick Barton, managing director, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that the latest CAA figures recognise the excellent on-time performance of departing flights at Stansted – our best ever year since Her Majesty The Queen opened the new Stansted 21 years ago this week.

“It’s really important for passengers and airlines to know they will get away on-time with the minimum of fuss. The 2011 data makes clear, if you’re flying low-cost, Stansted is the best airport in the UK for on-time performance despite being one of the country’s busiest airports.”

Stansted is the country’s fourth busiest airport and won a handful of international awards in 2011, including being named the world’s best budget airport by Skytrax.

The airport also won the Air Cargo Award of Excellence from Skytrax.

Despite the country’s purse strings remaining tight, UK holidaymakers are planning on spending a record amount on their trips abroad this year.

The average tourist will spend £3,890 on overseas breaks in 2012, with Spain being the the most popular destination, taking in £1.8 billion from UK holidaymakers.

The country, which includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, is a popular choice for Britons due to its sandy beaches, top temperatures andshort flight times from airports such as Heathrow and Stansted.

The Visa Europe Travel Report added that other top spots for breaks for Britons were France, the USA, Italy and Australia – however a new trend is also arising.

Remote destinations are becoming increasingly popular, according to the report, with more people eager to visit St Helena, in the South Pacific Ocean, Comoros in the Indian Ocean and Guinea in West Africa. These destinations have shown the biggest year on year increase in expenditure.

Despite the increasingly tough economic climate, British holidaymakers still spent a record £12.4 billion on their visits overseas, which was a 2% rise from the previous year.

This all-time high amount of spending was due to 137 million holiday transactions made by Britons last year, ranging from their initial trip booking, eating and drinking out when on holiday to airport transfers.

Travellers heading to Mumbai will once again be able to travel on Virgin Atlantic after the airline announced it was restarting its service to the Indian city.

Sir Richard Branson’s carrier will begin flights from Heathrow Airport to Mumbai from October 28, three years after suspending its service due to falling interest and ever increasing competition from rival airlines.

However, demand has flourished in the intervening years to make the destination Heathrow’s 12th busiest route, seeing as many as one million people head to the commercial and entertainment centre every year. Air India and British Airways already serve the Heathrow to Mumbai route.

The Airbus A330 aircraft will fly daily along the route for Virgin, and the new move is expected to create around 100 jobs both in India and the UK.

“We are proud to be flying to Mumbai again, linking this wonderful city to our key destinations of London, New York, Boston, Washington and Chicago,” said Virgin Atlantic chief executive Steve Ridgway.

“India’s phenomenal growth continues to drive travel to the UK and the USA and we know our passengers are going to love the connections the new flight offers.”

Those flying on the aircraft will be able to enjoy Panasonic’s latest in-flight entertainment system, which includes easy-to-use touchscreen technology and over 300 hours of content.

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Plans have been formed to expand passenger numbers at Luton Airport so that millions more travellers will be able to use the hub by 2022.

The operators of the Bedfordshire airport, London Luton Airport Operations Ltd (LLAOL), said it hopes to increase users by up to 15 and 16 million passengers a year as part of their 10-year strategy.

LLAOL said it wants to make Luton “London’s local airport” by developing better transport links to the city. It also promised to “avoid overbuilding capacity, and passing on unnecessary costs to airlines and passengers.”

The new blueprints by Spanish-owned LLAOL include building a new terminal, a larger taxiway, fresh aircraft stands and improving current ones.

These plans rival those put forward by airport-owners Luton Borough Council last month, who wanted to expand the airport from handling 10 million passengers a year to 18 million.

The council said to go ahead with their plans they would have to end LLAOL’s contract before its expiry in 2028.

Current airline operators that fly daily from Luton include Ryanair, easyJet, Monarch and Thomson