Oasis reunion drives surge in eDreams travel searches

[August 31, 2024]  (Reuters) - News of British rock band Oasis' long-awaited reunion tour next summer has led to a surge in searches for travel to Britain and Ireland, Spanish online travel booking company eDreams said on Friday.  

Searches for flights overall rose nearly 30-fold on Tuesday, the day the band announced its return to the stage, eDreams said.

Soccer Football - Champions League - Round of 16 - Second Leg - Manchester City v RB Leipzig - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - March 14, 2023 Noel Gallagher is pictured inside the stadium before the match Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith/File Photo

Tickets for the 14-show tour being billed as the "big event of 2025" go on sale in Britain and Ireland on Saturday.

For some destinations on the tour, the leap in interest was even greater.

Compared to a year ago, travel searches for the Welsh capital Cardiff multiplied by more than 100-fold on Tuesday, eDreams added. They jumped by eight times for Manchester - the Gallagher brothers' hometown in northern England - and by seven times for Dublin.

In terms of nationality, Italians ranked first as the most interested in flying to the cities hosting Oasis concerts, closely followed by Spaniards, Germans, and British and French citizens.

Taylor Swift fans also triggered air travel demand in Europe as they followed their idol's "Eras" tour between May and August this year.

Oasis disbanded in 2009 following the abrupt departure of its main songwriter and lead guitarist, Noel Gallagher, after a series of public spats with his younger brother Liam, the Britpop band's frontman.

(Reporting by Matteo Allievi, editing by David Latona and Barbara Lewis)

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