Holidaymakers will be heading for the sun during Easter according to the latest figures released by Leeds Bradford Airport.

The likes of Malaga and the Costa Del Sol are the most popular destinations for about 160,000 passengers, who are expected to leave the country via the Yeadon airport during the Easter break.

People from the region are also heading out to Amsterdam, and flights to Dublin, Belfast and Bristol are proving popular, according to bosses at LBA.

Tony Hallwood, the airport’s commercial director, said: “Thanks to a wide range of leisure destinations and popular city breaks from Yorkshire’s gateway airport, passengers will be able to celebrate Easter in style.

“We are also expecting a surge of inbound tourists to Yorkshire to sample the region’s famous hospitality over the holiday period.”

However, passengers are being warned to check their journeys to France and Spain after numerous flights were cancelled yesterday due to strikes by French Air Traffic Control.

The disruption was expected to continue into today.

Ryanair, which has flights to and from LBA, has seen hundreds cancelled and more than 88,000 passengers disrupted across Europe as a result of the French strikes.

On Monday, the strike caused 134 flights to be cancelled, with a further 450 delayed.

Now bosses at the firm have called on leaders in the European Union to take action against the strikers.

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said: “It is unacceptable that the skies over Europe are repeatedly closed or flights delayed by the unjustified strike action of tiny numbers of air traffic controllers.

“The summer schedules in Europe are barely one week old and already the French air traffic controllers are engaged in three days of strikes.

“The solution to this problem is simple. Remove their right to strike in exactly the same way that air traffic controllers in the USA are prevented by law from striking.”