Travel News | Travel Advice

UK holiday makers appear to be reacting to the weak value of the Pound against the Euro by switching their bookings to non Euro Zone destinations such as Turkey, Bulgaria and Egypt.

To meet this increased demand Monarch (www.monarch.co.uk), has announced further expansion to its Turkey flying schedule for this summer as the Pound remains relatively healthy against the Turkish Lira.

An additional charter flight from Gatwick to Antalya will operate weekly from 27 May meaning that Monarch will operate twice weekly flights from Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham to Turkey’s Mediterranean Coast this Summer. Services to Antalya operate in addition to Monarch’s charter flights to Dalaman and Bodrum, which also depart from Monarch’s key UK bases.

Cheap flights to Turkey with Monarch start from £258 per person inclusive of all taxes, charges and 20kg of hold baggage. Flights can be booked via www.monarch.co.uk.

Monarch currently operates a fleet of 31 aircraft, serving over 100 destinations world-wide. Services are split between scheduled and charter flights, with the airline carrying over 7 million passengers per year.

Monarch’s flying schedule to Turkey during Summer 2009 will operate as follows:

Antalya (Mediterranean Coast)
Gatwick – two flights per week
Manchester – two flights per week
Birmingham – two flights per week
Dalaman (Turquoise Coast)
Gatwick – ten flights per week
Manchester – five flights per week
Bodrum (Agean Coast)
Gatwick – two flights per week
Manchester – one flight per week
Birmingham – one flight per week

Clickair, a budget, low-cost airline based in Spain, has recently launched a new initiative to allow customers to hold seats on any of its flights for a small charge of €2 per seat. This allows the customer to reserve a seat for up to 24 hours before confirming or cancelling the booking.

This may prove popular, because many passengers booking with low cost airlines feel pressured into buying a ticket straight away for fear of the price rising if they delay.

The Clickair initiative is believed to be the first of its kind in the aviation industry and no doubt other airlines will be keeping a close eye on it in order to determine if it is a path they should follow.

If you are looking for flights within the Middle East then you may want to consider booking with low-cost airline Jazeera Airways.

The Kuwait based airline is well known in the region for offering cheap flights and in a bid to secure even more passengers the airline has introduced what it calls “Happy Hour”.

Jazeera passengers looking to book their flight tickets online should wait until 1pm. For one hour until 2pm the airline will offer a different special offer on certain routes every day for at least the next 12 months, so you could grab yourself a real bargain flight.

The airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, Steven Greenway, is quoted saying “We remain committed to constantly giving our passengers even greater freedom to fly within the region and beyond…The launch of Happy Hour is one way that we can drive value back to our passengers.”

Passengers travelling within the USA will not have failed to note the progress made by Delta Air Lines in its re-branding operation of Northwest Airlines, following their recent merger. 
As March drew to a close all Northwest airlines crew and ground staff wore their old uniforms for the last time and are now visible in their Delta Air Lines clothing.

The merger is moving rapidly as both airlines strive to combine their strengths to bring quality and value to passengers.

Not only have the uniforms changed, but also the following:
- Increased First Class offerings, such as improved meal choice on flights over 900 miles and a wider variety of snacks on flights over 250 miles.
- Economy passengers travelling on Northwest operated routes of more than 250 miles will benefit from the return of free snacks. On flights over 600 miles food will be made available for purchase.
- In addition to the return of in-flight food, passengers in Northwest economy seats will once again benefit from free, in-flight entertainment on all flights within the USA (but the safety video shown will be a Delta Air Lines video).
- Passengers on both Delta and Northwest operated routes will benefit from a single in-flight magazine, “Sky”.
Delta Air Lines offers a number of cheap flights from a number of regional UK airports to several destinations throughout the USA.

Ryanair, Europe’s leading low cost airline is to reduce the number of aircraft based at its Irish hub Dublin from 22 to 17.

As a direct consequence of this, flights to Doncaster/Sheffield and Durham Tees Valley will be withdrawn from as early as July 09.

Flights to Aberdeen, Bournemouth and East Midlands will also be affected, as the frequency of the Dublin flights to these airports will be reduced.

Ryanair has blamed airport charges and taxes for these cuts, some of which have increased by as much as 12%.

Dublin Airport itself will see Ryanair flight numbers reduced from around 700 per week to around 600. This is a reduction of around 13% in passenger numbers travelling through the airport.

Ryanair’s Chairman Michael O’Leary has stated that such increases in taxation were impossible to justify in a year when inflation will be negative.

Ryanair will make further cuts from Dublin when its winter schedule comes into force.