Europcar has announced that from September 2011, 60 of its UK branches will be open 7 days a week. The branches will be airport and city locations – 22 airports and 38 cities. Not all airport locations offer van hire but city locations normally do, so Europcar’s new opening hours will make them in a minority of UK van rental companies that offer Sunday opening hours.

Europcar Group UK Managing Director Ken McCall said:

“We have been trialling extended opening hours at selected locations over the last few months, with considerable success” added Ken McCall. “It therefore made perfect sense to roll out this service to more locations.”

Europcar’s move is certainly one that will offer great value to van rental customers – at present, weekend rentals usually mean exactly that – a Friday night or Saturday morning pickup followed by a Monday morning return. Being able to collect and return vehicles on Sundays will be very useful.

Update: Van hire branches with extended opening hours include Birmingham (Bristol Street), Leeds (Low Road), Bristol North (Berkley, Clifton) and Manchester (Oldham Road).