Travelling with kids

The airport was empty. Although the plane to Goa was full, there was only one family in front of us at the check in. At security, we just sauntered up and off-loaded our hand luggage from the back of the double buggy and went straight through - no queue at all. There were no shops and only one cafe open, but the speed we'd travelled through to the departure lounge compensated for the lack of cappuccinos. And food was hardly on our mind, after a full-blown turkey dinner.

Gatwick is quiet on Christmas Day; in fact, it's the only day it isn't mobbed. Instead of 800 flights, there are fewer than 50. So it's an ideal time for families to fly, because the queueing and waiting that drives every child (and their parents) bonkers vanish. It makes air travel seem, after all, quite a pleasant way of getting around.

We chose to fly to Goa on Christmas Day. The flight didn't leave until midnight, so we could still have dinner with granny before driving to the airport. By that time, the three-year-old twins were very well worn, having got up with Santa since 5am. An 11-hour overnight flight with three kids seemed far less daunting, as they were bound to sleep all the way through it, which they duly did.

So it's surprising so few people actually choose to spend December 25 at 35,000ft. Because it's not a popular day to embark on a holiday, few companies offer Christmas Day departures. We went to Goa with Direct Holidays, whose 2005/6 winter brochure is out this week ( With such limited choice, you have to book well in advance.

If you want to try out a long haul flight with kids, I recommend pulling the crackers, spooning on the brandy butter, then packing your bags. It's by far the best day to do it.

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