The USA is the favoured destination for UK's longhaul travellers this Easter as holidaymakers take advantage of the continued strength of the pound against the US dollar.

New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Orlando and Boston are among the top 10 longhaul cities for British Airways' travellers jetting off for the Easter break.

Robert Boyle, British Airways' commercial director said: "For those holidaymakers who enjoy a little retail therapy to help them relax while they're away, the strength of the pound against the US dollar is a real incentive to snap up some great bargains."

The airline is expecting to carry almost two million passengers during the two-week school holiday period - 2.5 per cent more than were booked to travel for the same time last year. More than 107,000 people are expected to fly on each of the busiest days, with up to 645,000 passengers expected to fly over the Easter bank holiday weekend.

Other favoured longhaul destinations include Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Tokyo and Toronto.

Meanwhile the top 10 shorthaul destinations this Easter are Paris, Edinburgh, Geneva, Manchester, Rome, Nice, Glasgow, Madrid, Barcelona and Stockholm.

Boyle continued: "It will be another bumper Easter for us with more passengers booked to travel with us during the holidays this year than Easter last year. The busiest days will be this weekend with peaks on Maundy Thursday and Easter Monday.

"We are pulling out all the stops with volunteers from around the airline assisting our airport teams to ensure that our customers' holidays get off to the best possible start. Customers can make their journeys easier and save time at the airport by checking in on www.ba.com before they come to the airport. Although the airport will be busy, we would advise customers not to arrive too early for their flights to avoid causing unnecessary congestion in the terminals."