The short answer
Birmingham is the Midlands' biggest airport, with direct flights to well over a hundred destinations. Most are holiday routes to Spain, the Canaries, Portugal, Greece and Turkey, flown by Jet2, Ryanair, easyJet and TUI. There's also a small but useful long-haul network, led by Emirates to Dubai.
We checked these routes in October 2026. Airlines add, drop and move routes every season, and many holiday routes only run in summer, so always check the current timetable before you plan a trip around a flight.
Winter sun: the Canaries and beyond
For winter sun, the Canary Islands are the easy choice, with flights of around four and a half hours and year-round routes from Birmingham:
- Tenerife, the most popular, with the warmest, most reliable weather in the south.
- Lanzarote, smaller and calmer, with volcanic scenery.
- Gran Canaria, with big beaches and a lively capital.
- Fuerteventura, for long, wild beaches.
Further afield, Jet2 has added Egypt's Red Sea resorts, Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, for winter 2026/27. EgyptAir has announced flights to Cairo from late October 2026, and easyJet has announced Agadir in Morocco for this winter. Ryanair has Marrakech on its winter programme too.
Summer beaches
In summer, the choice from Birmingham is huge. The main routes include:
New for summer 2026, Jet2 added the Greek island of Samos and Palermo in Sicily, and TUI added Tirana in Albania. Jet2 has already announced Thassos in Greece for summer 2027.
City breaks
Birmingham is a good airport for short city breaks, with lots of routes that run all year:
- Classics: Barcelona, Amsterdam with KLM, Paris with Air France, and Prague.
- Good value: Budapest, which TUI added in 2026, and Krakow, which easyJet has announced from late October 2026.
- New this winter: easyJet has announced flights to Copenhagen from November 2026, and Ryanair and Jet2 have announced Copenhagen too. Ryanair has also announced Rome Fiumicino and Warsaw. easyJet added Nice for summer 2026.
If you're not sure which city suits a short trip, our 3-day city breaks in Europe post compares flight times and how much you can see. Some of these routes are seasonal or only a few days a week, so check before you book.
Long-haul
Birmingham's long-haul list is short, but it covers the big holiday hubs:
- Dubai with Emirates, about seven hours. As well as a holiday in itself, it's a good connection to the Maldives, Asia and Australia.
- Doha with Qatar Airways, another easy hub for onward flights.
- Istanbul with Turkish Airlines, for a city break or onward connections.
- Cancún with TUI, around ten hours, Birmingham's longest direct route and the gateway to Mexico's Caribbean coast and Bacalar.
- India with Air India, to Delhi and Amritsar.
Direct flights from Birmingham to the USA are rare, so for New York or Florida you'll usually need to connect or fly from a London airport or Manchester. Check what's running for your dates, as long-haul holiday routes change from season to season.
Which airlines fly from Birmingham?
- Jet2 has the most holiday destinations from Birmingham, including package holidays, mostly to Spain, the Canaries, Portugal, Greece and Turkey.
- Ryanair covers lots of cities and beach resorts, usually with the lowest headline fares.
- easyJet flies a mix of beach and city routes.
- TUI mainly sells package holidays, including long-haul to Cancún.
- Wizz Air focuses on central and eastern Europe.
- Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and Air India fly the long-haul routes.
You can see the airport's full current list of destinations on Birmingham Airport's website.
How to choose where to go
With this many direct routes, the hard part is choosing. A few ways to narrow it down:
- Pick the month first. Our month pages, like where to go in February and where to go in July, show where's warm and good at that time of year.
- Then filter by type: beach holidays, city breaks or holidays in Spain.
- Shortlist three or four direct routes and compare flight days and times, not just prices.
If you're planning with family or friends who all want somewhere different, put the shortlist on somewhere.party and let everyone give their favourites points.
