Gen Z swap pre-flight pints for matcha and smoothies

Christmas is over and a new year almost upon us.

- Josh Halliday North of England editor

Time, then, to start planning your next summer holiday.Next year, however, you may be more likely to be downing gut health shots and Japanese tea in the airport than the once-traditional pint.

Figures from Manchester Airports Group (Mag), the biggest in the UK, show soaring numbers of passengers shunning preflight booze in favour of more wholesome alternatives.

Sales of antioxidant-rich matcha green tea rose 165% at Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports this year as TikTok influencers helped promote it as the ultimate wellness drink.

Younger travellers were also more likely to sink super smoothies and gut-health shots - up 650% and 102% respectively - than £7 airport pints.

And rather than having a skinful in the sky, a social media craze for “skincare in the sky” drove a 399% increase in sales of onboard face masks compared with 2024.