Astonishingly, nine out of every ten Brits holidaying in Spain this year will have got there on a no-frills airline like easyjet or Ryanair. The percentage for most other European destinations isn’t far behind. And with the budget airlines’ charge for checking in a suitcase ever rising, an increasing number of holidaymakers are taking just what will fit into a cabin bag with maximum dimensions of 55x40x20cm. Ryanair also imposes a 10kg weight limit whereas easyJet allows any weight ‘within reason’.

Ryanair has been especially tough on slightly oversize bags, sometimes creating lengthy departure gate queues as passengers with a cabin bag bulging beyond the max argue with staff then desperately extract enough to slim the bag.

If no-one has yet coined the phrase cabin bag anxiety, it’s time they did. But what the extortionate bag check-in charges do mean is that it’s worth investing in a cabin bag that makes the most of what you’re allowed. Luggage specialist Antler has come up a bag specifically designed for that purpose. It claims the Duolite is the lightest, most durable case it has ever produced. Combining a hybrid ABS and nylon material with a frameless construction, the Duolite is super lightweight, with the cabin case weighing in at just 2.1kg. With dimensions of 55x35x20, it meets most airlines’ cabin bag size limits (but always check before flying).

A weight of 2.1kg probably doesn’t mean much to most people, but we’ve been trying one out and the first thing everyone says is, “Isn’t it light?” The second is that  it nevertheless feels well made and strong in a high-tech sort of way, and the third is that it wheels along very easily. So although it has a recommended retail price of £89 (the lowest discounted price we saw online was £84), that could be a worthwhile investment. Our only reservation is that its width of 35cm is actually 5cm, or a couple of inches, less than most airlines allow, so you aren’t quite maximising the allowance. Having said that, the structure of the case intrudes very little into the internal space, which can also be expanded slightly by undoing a zip-fastened gusset extension to give a depth of 23cm if the airline isn’t being too strict. The bag has one zipped external pocket, and comes complete with a TSA padlock (which can be opened by security staff without having to break into the case).

For those trips where a cabin bag just isn’t enough, Antler does two matching suitcases of similar construction. The medium case (67x44x30/33cm) weighs 2.5kg, with a rrp of £105 and the large (74x49x33/36cm) weighs 2.9kg with a rrp of £109. With excess baggage charges of up to £40 per kilo, the two kilos or so saved compared with a typical case could almost pay for these cases, which all come with a 10-year warranty. Further details and stockists at www.antler.co.uk

EasyJet’s winter schedule, running from 31 October through to March 2011, is its biggest ever, offering more than 11.5 million seats across 230 low fare routes.

The no-frills airline has more than 80 new routes this winter, with a host of sun destinations including Cyprus, the Canary Islands, Egypt, Morocco, Tel Aviv and Turkey.

In 15 years, British company easyJet has created one of Europe’s key transport networks, operating on 45 of Europe’s top 100 routes, with 19 bases across 28 countries, and a fleet of 182 aircraft. This year it will have carried 50 million passengers on over 500 routes between 119 airports in 29 countries. It’s the UK’s largest and Europe’s fourth largest airline by passenger numbers. In 2009, the airline carried 28 million passengers in the UK and 46 million in total.

In an article in the Metro newspaper last week it was reported that in a recent survey of popular beach holidays Sydney has gone from a popular destination to the bottom of the list. The Aussie city scored 18 out of 100, with crime ranking as a particular low point in the survey.

Budget destinations  most favoured by Brits abroad include North Tunisia, Turkey and Bulgaria’s Back Sea Coast.

Of the different categories to help rate destinations, Egypt’s Sharm el Sheikh came top for climate. Brit’s priorities in choosing a destination consist mainly of affordability, closely followed by security, weather and good food.

This weekend saw the collapse of travel company Goldtrail; leaving many travellers without flights to and from their destinations and without hotels.

A crisis centre for customers has been set up in Turkey, the company’s specialist area. The Governorship of Mugla is instructing holidaymakers to call +90 (0)252 214 1234 or from Turkey call the Mugla Call and Information Centre by dialling 179 from any landline.

The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism said the crisis centre is designed to ensure holidaymakers can continue their holidays in Turkey and return home at the end of their stay. It will give customers the latest information about hotels that have been booked by Goldtrail customers and can advise travellers on how to proceed.

Information desks have been set up at all airports in the affected region and the CAA is making arrangements for customers abroad to travel home at the end of their holidays. The majority of flights from Turkey are expected to operate as planned.

Skyscanner, the flights search engine, have just published their UK passenger travel trends for 2010 to show the most popular holiday destinations for we Brits.

The top three are Spanish destinations, Alicante, Malaga and Palma. Portugal’s Faro and Dalaman in Turkey are in 4th and 5th with Tenerife in 6th and Ibiza in 7th. So from this it seems that Spain is rather a popular destination as it dominates the top half of the list.

 The second half of the list are long haul destinations, with New York at 8th, Orlando 9thand despite the political unrest in Thailand, flights to Bangkok are still very popular with British tourists, with the city entering in 10th place.

Perhaps this could be indicating more confidence in travel abroad as we edge out of recession and holidays abroad once again start to take precedent.