Download warning to East Midlands Airport fliers

Passengers flying from East Midlands Airport while Download Festival takes place nearby are being warned to give themselves extra time to travel.

The Donington Park festival brings tens of thousands of music fans to the area, and in 2023 the event caused "unprecedented" congestion on roads including the M1, A42, A50 and A453, with passengers missing flights.

Download put new traffic management measures in place in 2024.

But with significant traffic still anticipated, the Castle Donington airport has issued a warning.

The three-day event headlined by Green Day, Sleep Token and Korn is expected to attract about 75,000 people from 13 to 15 June, with campsites opening on Wednesday 11 June.

An airport spokesperson said 466 flights were scheduled to arrive and depart during the festival and airlines should alert their passengers to any "potential delays".

The airport's head of airfield operations Lauren Turner said: "We start planning for the arrival of Download in October and have had plenty of meetings with the organisers to make sure the festival doesn't impact on our operations or our customers.

"Last year, the new arrangements for getting people to and from the festival site worked really well so with the same arrangements in place this year, we're hoping things will run smoothly again.

"But we advise our customers travelling to the airport while the festival is on to allow some extra time."

She added that it is illegal to fly drones near the airport as in previous years drone flights associated with the festival had caused delays.

In 2023, a drone pilot was ordered to pay almost £1,500 for flying in the airport's "flight restriction zone" during the festival.

Follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.