The Cheap Flights News weekly roundup

The airline industry is volatile these days. One week, Virgin is ordering £1.27 billion worth of Airbus aircraft, unveiling a social media site and offering rewards for online check-in and the next it's scaling back winter flights and warning that there may be redundancies.  British Airways, which had us  gobsmacked with its recent request to workers to forgo a month's pay, this week announced a truly spectacular sale.

Finally, Spring Airlines is recycling one of Michael O'Leary's ideas - no seats!

bmibaby: summer flights from £9.99 one-way with taxes

Book by Tuesday, July 14: bmibaby, bmi's regional offshoot, is offering flights from £9.99 one-way including taxes. Travel throughout the peak summer season, until October 24.

The £9.99 one-way flights are available on the following routes: Manchester to Belfast, Ireland West Knock, Newquay or Cork.

East Midlands to Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Cardiff to Belfast, Edinburgh and Jersey.

Reykjavik flights from £79 one-way with taxes

Iceland Express, the low-cost airline (website: www.icelandexpress.com) that flies from London Gatwick, is offering flights to Reykjavik from £79 one-way including taxes and charges.

The travel window is not wide - you can only fly at this price until July 31  - but that's just enough time to experience the spectacular Midnight Sun.

Czech Airlines' weekend discount - save 25%

Warsaw, Krakow, Helsinki  and Oslo - Czech Airlines has swiped 25 per cent off the cost of flights to these cities this weekend. Book by Sunday, July 5, and travel until September 20.

Czech Airlines flies from two airports in the UK - London Heathrow and Manchester.

Flights to Krakow, the beautiful former royal capital of Poland, cost from £144 return, while flights to Helsinki, where Finns are currently enjoying 20 hours of daylight, cost from £163.

British Airways' World Sale - flights, hols, rental cars

Book by Tuesday, July 14, to snap up one of British Airways' cheaper than cheap flights. The airline's World Sale is on now with return flights to New York available from £259 and one-way flights to popular European destinations starting from £39. 

There are also flight plus rental car offers and flight and hotel (three nights) bargains.

BA's global reach means that the list of destinations on offer runs from Amsterdam to Vancouver, Belgrade to Bermuda.

Australia flights for £10 one-way incl. taxes?

This may be one of those camp-out-the-night-before sales. STA Travel, the  travel agent for students and young people, will be offering 150 one-way flights to Australia for £10 including taxes and charges.

This promotion, which will run in association with Qantas and Tourism Australia,  will be open only to those with a valid Working Holiday Visa.

Tickets will go on sale at 8am on Wednesday, August 5, at eight  branches of STA Travel - London (Victoria), Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Southampton, Bristol, Glasgow and Belfast.

easyJet to offer Canary Islands flights from Liverpool Airport

easyJet is to launch new services to the Canary Islands from Liverpool John Lennon Airport this winter.

Flights to Fuerteventura and Lanzarote will take off in November, just in time for the winter-sun season.

Fuerteventura flights will operate on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday and  flights to Lanzarote will run on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.  One-way fares, including taxes and charges, will start from £29.99.

Virgin Atlantic scales back winter services

Virgin Atlantic has confirmed that it will be cutting capacity by seven per cent this winter, axing all flights to Chicago and scaling back its Hong Kong service.

The airline also issued a warning that up to 600 jobs could go if passenger demand fails to pick up, with CEO Steve Ridgway saying the outlook is "as bleak as ever".

Its gloomy forecast contrasts with high spirits in the Virgin camp last month, when airline bosses placed an order for ten Airbus A330s and announced profits of £68.4 million.

AirAsia X adds more flights to Kuala Lumpur

AirAsia X has responded to strong demand for its route between London Stansted Airport and Kuala Lumpur by adding two extra weekly flights.

The no-frills carrier had operated the link five times a week since its launch in March, but following strong ticket sales it now becomes a daily service.

Manchester Airport spies Indian air link

Officials at Manchester Airport have stepped up efforts to reinstate direct flights to India, according to a report in economic development website Regen.net.

The northern gateway has not offered services to India since the late 1990s, but it is now seeking to capitalise on heightened demand for Asian routes.

Middle East flights from £245 return with taxes

Gulf Air, the flag carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, has unveiled some super offers (all return with taxes and surcharges included) to the Middle East and Asia from London Heathrow. Among the offers are:

Muscat from £245 
Abu Dhabi  from £247 
Dubai from £247  

British Airways tweaks winter flights schedule

Last week we reported on British Airways' changes to its winter flights schedule. Now the airline has announced further tweaks. From October 25, there will be changes to services from London Gatwick and Heathrow airports.

The changes are as follows:

Gatwick to Rome - two flights per day will go down to one per day.

Scandinavian Airlines offers free Island Hopper card

In a neat tie-up, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is offering a free Island Hopper card, worth £29, to travellers who book London-Stockholm flights for August and September trips.

The airline is offering flights from London Heathrow to Stockholm Arlanda Airport from £67 one-way including taxes and charges.

Dutch drop air passenger tax today

London, 30 June 2009: Cheapflights Ltd, the pioneer and an international leader in independent online flight price search and comparison has been a long-term opponent of the UK’s regressive Air Passenger Duty. Cheapflights believes the tax to simply be a revenue generator to fill Treasury coffers rather than an environmental tax. The Dutch Government have recognised that their version of the tax was actually counterproductive for their economy as a whole and that since aviation is a global industry, it also had no meaningful environmental impact on the industry’s global carbon foot-print.

Chris Cuddy, Cheapflights’ CEO said: “We applaud the Dutch Government’s willingness to drop a tax that they recognised as having serious knock-on and un-looked for negative effects on their aviation industry and national economy. We again call on the UK Government to follow the Dutch Government’s lead – the planned November increases in APD are a tax too far which will actively hinder the UK’s economic recovery.”

Virgin offers rewards for online check-in

Virgin Atlantic is offering discounts on duty free purchases for passengers who check in online at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow airports.

Customers who take an outbound flight between July 1 and August 31 will be given a £6-off duty free shopping voucher, which is redeemable on orders over £30.

Bmi Regional strengthens Scottish connections

Bmi Regional has boosted capacity on its services from Leeds Bradford Airport to Glasgow and Edinburgh during the peak summer season.

As of yesterday (June 29), the low-cost carrier has been operating twice daily connections between the two Scottish airports and its Yorkshire base.

Budget airline plans standing-only flights

China's first private airline, Spring Airlines, is pushing the concept of no-frills travel to the extreme, announcing plans to strip its aircraft of seats.

Spokesman Zhang Wuan unveiled the proposal yesterday, telling CCTV that standing-room-only cabins could accommodate up to 40 per cent more passengers.

The move follows comments by China's vice premier, Zhang Dejiang, who argued that citizens "should be able to get on a plane like catching a bus".

Jet2.com boosts Manchester to Tel Aviv link

Jet2.com is doubling the frequency of its Manchester Airport to Tel Aviv service during key dates in the winter schedule, TravelMole reports.

The low-cost carrier will be operating an additional weekly flight from December 21 to January 4, and then again from March 22 to April 26.

Luton Airport welcomes new Italian carrier

London Luton Airport is preparing to add Italian low-cost carrier Wind Jet to its route network.

From this Thursday (July 2), the no-frills airline will be operating twice weekly services between Luton and Forli Airport, situated in the north of Italy.

New Gatwick to Dusseldorf service takes off

Low-cost carrier Flybe has begun operating a brand new connection between London Gatwick Airport and the German city of Dusseldorf.

The service will be operated three times a day on weekdays, daily on Saturdays, and twice daily on Sundays. Fares start from £34.99 one-way, including taxes.