Barry Smith, co-founder of Skyscanner

Flight trends data for April 2010 shows that beach destinations are still the most popular for UK travellers, with Spain and the Canary Islands leading the way.

April 2010 was a fascinating month for the UK travel sector, which experienced a five-day closure of airspace (a first in aviation history), wide-ranging weather from snowstorms to heat waves, while popular holiday destinations Greece and Thailand were hit by civil unrest.

All of the above affected the UK’s interest in travel destinations according to data from cheap flight comparison website Skyscanner (www.Skyscanner.net), which compiles the top 50 destinations list. Rankings are based on the number of searches for flights during April 2010 on the Skyscanner website for UK departures.

The top five positions were filled by the same destinations as in March 2010, namely Malaga, Alicante, Tenerife, Palma and Faro. Dalaman in Turkey moved up to number six on the list, with London, Dublin, New York and Amsterdam completing the top ten.

Destinations increasing in popularity compared to the previous month included Gerona (up nine places), Luqa in Malta, Pisa, Stockholm, Bodrum and Nice, the latter likely due to the Cannes Film festival that takes place in May.

The biggest faller was Geneva, which dropped 20 places, no doubt due to the end of the ski season. Dubai and Lanzarote also slipped down the rankings, with Munich, Manchester, Hong Kong and Budapest all dropping out of the top 50. Newcomers replacing them were Hamburg, Frankfurt, Crete and Antalya.

“Spain continues to hold on to the top spots along with Portugal’s Faro,” said Skyscanner’s co-founder and development director Barry Smith.

“Dalaman is going from strength to strength, rising another place from last month, and despite civil unrest in Thailand, Bangkok has risen two places to number 11, showing its resilience as a tourist destination.”

The top 15 destinations in April 2010 (previous month’s ranking in brackets):

1. Malaga (Spain) [1]
2. Alicante (Spain) [2]
3. Tenerife (Spain) [3]
4. Palma (Spain) [4]
5. Faro (Portugal) [5]
6. Dalaman (Turkey) [7]
7. London (UK) [6]
8. Dublin (Ireland) [9]
9. New York (USA) [8]
10. Amsterdam (Netherlands) [10]
11. Bangkok (Thailand) [13]
12. Barcelona (Spain) [11]
13. Paphos (Cyprus) [14]
14. Ibiza (Spain) [19]
15. Orlando, Florida (USA) [20].