Travel News | Travel Advice

During the past 5 years Exeter International Airport (EIA) has enjoyed significant expansion and development.

During 2000 the airport was handling around 300,000 passengers p.a. From 2003 that figure has trebled and in 2007 the airport exceeded the one million passenger milestone.

According to the UK Department of Transport’s 2003 white paper “The Future of Air Transport” Exeter International “has a distinctive role in serving the local catchment area and there is significant scope for development without major environmental impacts”.

By 2015 it is expected the airport will handle more than 1.9 million passengers p.a and 4 million by 2030.

The airports largest Airline customer is currently FlyBe. FlyBe have based four Bombardier Dast 8-Q400s and two Embraer 195s there and provides more than 190 flights a week on 18 different routes. It also has dedicated maintainence facilities.

Other scheduled carriers at EIA include regional carrier Skybus, who service the route to the Isle of Scilly.

Perhaps more importantly, First Choice Airways, part of the TUI Group, who have offered charter packages from Exeter Airport for the past few years, have now based a dedicated aircraft there for the summer season.

A recent survey conducted by First Choice Airlines, which questioned passengers flying from 15 UK airports revealed that Exeter was voted in joint first place for the check-in experience.

A First Choice representative is quoted as saying that “Exeter Airport is one of the best performing airports that our company uses and the staff friendliness and efficiency play a major part in the holiday experience for our customers”.

The Top Ten routes from Exeter are as follows:

1. Paris 64,037 passengers
2. Malaga 62,055 passengers
3. Glasgow 56,303 passengers
4. Newcastle 56,150 passengers
5. Manchester 53,942 passengers
6. Alicante 47,854 passengers
7. Palma 42,552 passengers
8. Faro 41,432 passengers
9. Amsterdam 37,490 passengers
10. Belfast City 34,356 passengers

FlyGlobespan has announced plans to launch a weekly Cardiff – Toronto (Hamilton) service from June 2009.

The service will be particularly welcome as it replaces the twice-weekly flights operated by the now defunct airline Zoom.

The Scottish airline plans to use Boeing 767 on the route.

Monarch Airlines and Cosmos Holidays are names that will be familiar to millions of British Holiday makers. Both companies have been taken passengers on holiday for a number of years.

It is perhaps less well known that both companies are actually part of the same group.

This looks set to change, as they have joined forces to become Monarch Holidays on the internet, although Cosmos holidays can still be booked on the high street with your travel agent.

Monarch Holidays have 100% ATOL protection, offer holidays to hundreds of resorts worldwide and are fully covered by ABTA, so you can book your next holiday with confidence.

For those travellers who are looking for flight only Monarch also offer an extensive range of flight only deals and at time of writing (29/10/08) are offering up to 47% web discounts on flight only deals for departures this winter. Flights depart from Manchester Airport, Birmingham International Airport, London Luton Airport and London Gatwick Airport.

For added convenience, flight only customers can also book car hire, hotels, insurance, parking and transfers with Monarch Flights.

Monarch are also featuring on ITV2 currently, thanks to the programme CelebAir, which has celebrities working on a dedicated aircraft serving real passengers on real flights.

On 17th January 2008 a BA Boeing 777 Aircraft from Beijing crash landed just short of the runway at London Heathrow.

The UK Air Accidents Investigation branch has now released an interim report suggesting that ice was the “most probable” cause of this accident, restricting fuel flow to the engines.

Fortunately the aircraft suffered no substantial damage, there was no fire and only 13 of the 152 passengers were injured, albeit one seriously.

As a result of the findings the FAA has issued an airworthiness directive affecting Rolls-Royce RB211 Trent 800 powered B777 200/300s that are operated in extremely cold temperatures.

This AD requires revision of the aircraft flight manual to include in flight procedures for pilots to follow in certain cold weather conditions and for fuel circulation on the ground.

Quantas has so far ordered 20 Airbus A380 double-decker aircraft, and the first was delivered to them during a moonlight ceremony, which included a spectacular light show in Toulouse, France.

Following its departure from Toulouse the aircraft made a stop-over in Singapore before arriving in Sydney on 21st September 2008.

It was met by a crowd of over 3000 spectators, Quantas employees and their families and friends.

The aircrafts interior was created by international designer Marc Newson and features four classes with 14 seats in First Class, 72 in Business, 32 in Premium Economy and 322 in Economy.

Newson has designed almost everything onboard, from the coat hooks to the fabrics, and Quantas executives believe the result is the most “functional and intelligent of any aircraft flying today”.

First Class passengers are rewarded with single, private suites featuring a 17 inch LCD wide screen video monitor, a touch screen control unit and a seat which swivels into a comfortable armchair and a fully flat, extra long and wide bed.

In Business Class passengers are treated to the luxury of the next generation of Quantas’ award winning sleeper seat Skybed – a fully flat bed with ergonomically enhanced cushioning. There is a large in-arm entertainment screen, additional storage options and more privacy. There is also a dedicated private lounge bar in the upper deck featuring leather sofa, self-service bar, large video monitor, laptop connectivity and a feature display cabinet.

Premium Economy seats are designed by Recaro and have fully adjustable, in-arm wide screen TV monitors and a self-service bar dedicated to the cabin.

In Economy the 332 seats have also been designed by Recoro and feature a sliding base which moves with the seat to create a more comfortable position to aid sleep and eliminate pressure points. There are four self-service bars in the Economy cabin.

For entertainment in the Economy cabin there is a state of the art Panasonic in-flight entertainment system with more than 100 on demand films, 350 television sections, 500 audio CDs, 30 PC style games and a selection of audio books.

In every seat on the aircraft there is a power point and laptop connectivity allowing passengers to send and receive emails during the flight.

The first commercial passenger flight of the Quantas A380 has taken place on 20th October 2008 from Melbourne to Los Angeles.

Services between Sydney and London via Singapore will begin in January 2009.