Olympic exodus causes uptick in flight numbers

BRUSSELS (AP) - The European air traffic agency says the exodus of thousands of athletes, spectators, journalists and others from the Olympics is causing only a slight uptick in the number of flights across the continent.

Kenneth Thomas, head of operational support at Eurocontrol, said Monday's traffic was expected to jump by only by a few hundred flight over the 29,360 a week ago.

Flights from London's airports - Heathrow, Stansted, Luton, Biggin Hill and Farnborough - were expected to carry 30 percent more passengers on Monday, he said. Still, the mass getaway will not impact the overall number of flights because passenger departures will be spread over a number of days.

The record in commercial and general aviation flights in Europe was set in June, 2008, with 34,476 flights.