The cheap flights round-up

Here is a look back at what made the news over the past week, with the latest on low-cost flights in the UK.

A new route has been launched between Scotland and the North East of England, Aer Arann extends its network and don’t miss a chance to win a short break in Bratislava.

The beef is here - What the Saturday papers say

Vegetarians look away now. One of The Daily Telegraph's top stories is a paean to Argentina's parillas or steak houses. Chris Moss has a fantastic guide - with a couple of very graphic colour photographs - to the best places to get a steak. It's a very serious business. At La Cabaña restaurant, for example, Moss's tenderloin comes with a barcode so he can scan it and get a photo "of the young castrated Angus bull I had just eaten, with his date of birth and details about his diet of grasses and artesian water, his weight and the last fields he lived in". Now that's traceability.

Much, much further north James Cracknell, who recently spent 49 days in a boat rowing across the Atlantic, goes on a road trip along the Pacific Coast Highway. It’s not exactly the “open road”, but he hits on enough spots along the way to rest and recharge his batteries. A 300-mile cycling holiday is one way to see Sri Lanka. Lee Levitt (The Independent) braves the 24C (75F) degree heat on an Exodus holiday with a dozen others and feels like a “visiting dignitary”.

Flights to Germany from £71

With the FIFA World Cup set to start on June 9, all roads lead to Germany. Sadly, tickets for England’s games are long gone, but Lufthansa, the national airline, has some cheap flights for footie fans eager to soak up the atmosphere and support their team on foreign soil.

Fares from London to Hamburg start from £71; Dusseldorf and Stuttgart from £73; Cologne from £74; and Frankfurt and Munich from £75.

Summer fun Ibiza style

The party island of Ibiza in the Mediterranean has a great deal more to offer than clubbing and drinking, with secluded coves, a rich history and stunning scenery.

Part of the Spanish Balearic Islands, Ibiza is warm almost all year round and has some stunning beaches. Covering around 434 sq miles (1,125 sq km), the island was founded as a port by Phoenician settlers in 654 BC and has 72 different beaches.

The rich natural resources and its location on major trade routes saw the island pass through the hands of Carthage, the Roman Empire, the Visigoths and Muslims. Ibiza was conquered by James I of Aragon in 1235 and has remained in Spanish hands ever since.

Ryanair and Monarch sales end on Monday

Ryanair's May seat sale has been extended again and will now close at midnight on Monday, May 1.

One-way flights (without taxes and charges, which will not exceed £15.20 from Stansted Airport or as much as £21.50 if departing from the most expensive airports, Manchester and Inverness) start from £0.14.

Fly to hundreds of European cities from 21 airports around the UK.

Getaway calendar - May

© CheungChau.org

What's on where in May? Weird and wonderful events of interest around the world in the coming month.

May 1: Cheese Rolling Festival, England
May Day events in the village of Stilton, Cambridgeshire, unsurprisingly celebrate the cheese named after the town. The annual cheese rolling event sees residents dress up in fancy dress with teams of four competing to roll a "stilton" (actually a stilton-shaped block of wood) between two pubs in the fastest time. The winners are awarded a whole stilton (the genuine cheese variety) plus beer for the men or wine for the women.

Travel: Stilton village is between Cambridge and Peterborough. Find a hotel in Cambridge or a hotel in Peterborough.

May 5-12: Cheung Chau Bun Festival, Hong Kong
Another food related festival takes place a few days later in Hong Kong. Cheung Chau is one of the outlying islands, about 12km south of mainland Hong Kong. The bun festival lasts three days, with processions, music and carnival, during which time the inhabitants of the island traditionally only had a vegetarian diet. So far, so normal. The end of the diet, however, is celebrated by, wait for it, climbing up a pre-constructed bamboo tower, which is studded with sweet buns, tearing the buns out and throwing them over the crowd.

Scottish Air Discount Scheme website launched

A website has been launched to provide information on plans that promise cheaper flights for residents of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

The Air Discount Scheme site explains how a 40 per cent reduction on ticket prices will help more people travel quickly and easily.

In February Scottish Transport Minister Tavish Scott launched the £11 million plan that will provide discounts on flights to the four main Scottish airports to and from those smaller airports within the area covered by the scheme.

Cathay’s Antipodean offers

Book by Wednesday, May 10: Cathay Pacific is the latest major airline to offer sale fares to Australia and New Zealand from the UK. Return flights start from £409 excluding taxes. Add on between £152.40 and £200.80 to cover taxes, fees, and surcharges.

Oldest football heads to the World Cup

Ryanair flew the oldest football in the world yesterday from Prestwick to Hamburg Lubeck Airport in Germany, where it is due to feature in an exhibition tied to the World Cup.

And to celebrate the occasion, the low-cost airline has launched a seat sale with flights on offer from as little as 14p (excluding taxes and charges).

The ball dates back to the sixteenth century, is made from a pig's bladder and is thought to have been used by Mary Queen of Scots. It will feature in the Fascination Football exhibition in Hamburg.

Stansted growth will mean more cheap flights

The number of cheap flights leaving from Stansted is likely to increase, after the airport submitted a planning application to increase flights by around 23,000 per year.

Stansted's Generation 1 plan would see the number of flights in and out of the airport, termed air transport movements (ATMs), rise by up to 63 per day.

Generation 1 is separate from a plan to build a second runway and focuses solely on maximising the flights using the existing runway.

bmi regional named most punctual

The most punctual scheduled airline at UK airports is bmi regional, according to punctuality resource www.flightontime.info.

The website reveals that the average delay for the airline's passengers last year was 6.76 minutes, with 88.59 per cent being held up for less than 15 minutes.

The results actually represented an increase in average delay times from last year for bmi regional - the figure for 2004 was 6.52 minutes. However, the airline managed to retain its number one spot, with Easter Airways and VLM Airlines completing the top three.

Aer Arann could benefit Cardiff passengers

Customers in Wales could actually benefit from Ryanair's decision to cease flying from Dublin to Cardiff.

The Irish no-frills airline has decided to stop its services between the two cities from May 1, citing "extortionate prices" at Cardiff Airport (see Aer Arann replaces Ryanair at Cardiff). Aer Arann is to step in and operate a twice-daily service in Ryanair's place.

And Wales Transport Research Centre fellow Michael Crawley believes that the new Aer Arann service would be beneficial to passengers in certain respects.

Online check-in on Ryanair route

Passengers flying with Ryanair between Dublin and Cork will be able to make use of the airline's Check'N'Go online check-in service, meaning less queuing at the airport.

The Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) had originally blocked the service but yesterday revealed they would no longer stand in the way.

Passengers with an EU passport can now check in between 72 and four hours before their flight is due to depart. People using the service should arrive at the boarding gate 30 minutes before the flight's departure time.

Airlines hike fuel surcharges

A number of airlines have announced they will be increasing fuel surcharges on tickets due to rising oil prices.

Air France, Singapore Airlines and Qantas say they have been forced to increase current charges, with long-haul services in particular affected.

Germanwings’ summer specials

Book by midnight on Monday, May 1: Germanwings has put 100,000 extra tickets on the market from €9 (about £6) one-way excluding taxes.

Depending on the departure airport, taxes, charges and fees will range from €18 (about £12) to €46 (approximately £32).

Up to 50% off Excel Airways’ flights

Excel Airlines has discounted its flights to popular holiday destinations in May, June and July by up to 50 per cent. Return flights with taxes cost from £69 and depart from airports around the UK.

£69 – depart from Gatwick to Malaga on June 13; Newcastle to Chania on May 2; or Manchester to Kalamata on May 7.

£79 – fly from Cardiff to Las Palmas on May 20; Gatwick to Mykonos on May 19; or Gatwick to Palma on May 23.

Oz-some bargains Down Under

Book by Sunday, May 14: Emirates, the Dubai-based airline, has flights from around the UK to cities in Australia and New Zealand from £532 return including taxes. Travel until June 30 and book on Opodo. The deals on offer are as follows:

- Gatwick to Perth from £532.
- Glasgow to Brisbane and Manchester to Melbourne from £610.
- Heathrow to Sydney from £619.
- Gatwick to Auckland from £637.

A chance to explore with Monarch

Travellers flying with Monarch will soon be able to explore Mozart in Vienna, windmills in Holland and the Da Vinci Code around Paris from the comfort of their computer desk.

The airline has signed a deal with online travel activities company Viator that will see Monarch send its customers emails featuring places to visit before they set off to their destination.

VLM passengers delighted by convenience

A customer satisfaction survey commissioned by VLM Airlines found that almost a third of passengers (31 per cent) were ‘delighted’ with the service offered by the airline.

The Fly to Delight survey, conducted during February and March, also revealed that nearly two thirds of passengers were satisfied with VLM.

The Belgian airline received the opinions of 1,340 people via an online questionnaire and forms completed onboard various VLM flights throughout the network.

Aer Arann rewrites Liege Airport plans

Aer Arann has decided to go back to the drawing board with its plans to extend its network from Liege Airport, in Belgium.

In a statement the airline said that it has decided to suspend plans to connect Liege to the French airport of Lorient and the UK's Birmingham International.

The reason given was that aircraft were unavailable to service these routes.

Snoop arrested after Heathrow fracas

American rapper Snoop Dogg was arrested at Heathrow Airport last night after his entourage were involved in a fracas.

Snoop (real name Calvin Broadus) and five others were detained following a fight that broke out when police were escorting him from the airport. Six police officers suffered minor injuries as a result, while one sustained a fractured hand

Ryanair doubles Heineken Cup offer

It was good news for people looking for flight deals from Shannon as low-cost airline Ryanair announced a further giveaway of free flights tied in with the Heineken Cup.

The Irish carrier originally gave away 1,000 flights free of charge (one-way, excluding taxes and charges) for every point by which Munster beat Leinster in the Heineken Cup semi-final.

Half-term flights from £16.99

Thomsonfly’s new flights from Cardiff to Jersey cost from £16.99 one-way with taxes. In addition to Cardiff, there are departures from Coventry and Doncaster airports.

The airline also has flights to the Dominican Republic (from London Gatwick and Manchester) from £89.99, and to Mexico (from Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham) and Florida (from Gatwick and Manchester) from £99.99, all one-way including taxes. Flights to these destinations can only be booked as part of a return flight. Travel between April 28 and June 30.

Travel insurance tips for sunshine getaways

With two bank holidays in May, and summer on the horizon, many people will soon be thinking of getting away to a European hot spot to recharge their batteries.

But if you are going away, even for just a few days, then it is well worth looking at getting insurance cover for your trip.

The premium for a week’s travel is usually very low and if you are a regular traveller then an annual policy may be the most suitable.

A380 to make UK debut at Heathrow

The world’s biggest passenger jet, the Airbus A380, is to make its debut landing at a UK airport next month.

The giant jumbo will fly into Heathrow at midday on May 18 and be stationed overnight at the purpose built pier 6 of Terminal 3, a £100 million facility that is a 280 metre long, three-storey high pier which can accommodate up to four A380s at a time.

Ryanair ad provokes complaints

An advertisement for low-cost airline Ryanair was one of the most complained-about press campaigns last year.

Over 300 people made complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) regarding the London Fights Back advert, which people said was offensive because it exploited the terrorist attacks in London that took place last July.

However, the ASA rejected the complaints saying the advert did not breach any rules.

Fine should help keep passengers moving

All air passengers will have had experience of waiting at security checkpoints – but news that airport operator BAA is to be fined for such delays may be something of a consolation.

The Guardian reports that a dramatic increase in passenger waiting times at security, because of tighter scanning rules, has led to a fine of £1.1 million for BAA, to be imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority.

SAS’s cheap flights and free city cards

SAS Scandinavian Airlines has SAS flights to cities in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland from £47 one-way with taxes.

The cities on offer include Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm from £47.

There are also flights to Gothenburg from £50 one-way with taxes, and to Helsinki from £72 one-way including taxes.

The airline is also offering the chance to win a city card. There are 50 up for grabs for Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo or Stockholm. The cards offer free or discounted admission to museums, galleries and other attractions and free public transport for 24 hours.

Aer Arann replaces Ryanair at Cardiff

Ryanair is to stop its services from Dublin to Cardiff as of Monday, May 1.

A row over airport charges led the low cost airline to transfer services to Bristol International Airport. For flights up until May 10, Ryanair will provide coach transfers between Cardiff and Bristol, while those passengers with bookings but not wanting to travel to Bristol will receive refunds.

Aer Arann has said it will step in and begin a twice-daily service to Cardiff on the day Ryanair stops operating the route. Tickets for the new Aer Arann service go on sale today.

Glasgow Airport set to get new rail link

The future looks good for a possible new rail link between Glasgow Airport and the city centre that will make passengers' lives much easier.

The £160 million direct link, being developed by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), has garnered "overwhelming support" from business groups and Glasgow city council, The Glasgow Evening Times reports.

Scottish Enterprise submitted a report to the parliamentary committee that is examining the plan, saying it would help to attract more international flights and that passengers would be able to travel to the west of Scotland.

Aer Arann's domestic deal

Book by Sunday, May 7: flights between Sligo and Dublin are available from €23.99 one-way including taxes with Aer Arann. A 21-day advance purchase is required.

Centralwings' city-break bargains

Book by Sunday, May 7: Centralwings, LOT Polish Airlines' low-cost daughter, is offering flights from Edinburgh to Gdansk and Katowice from £1 one-way excluding taxes.

Add on Centralwings' fixed fee of £19.89 to cover the taxes and charges on a one-way flight.

From Dublin, flights to Lodz and Wroclaw are available from €1 plus the additional fixed fee of €24.98.

May sale rolls on

Offer now closes at midnight on Thursday, April 27: Ryanair's May seat sale has been extended.

See Ryanair’s May sale for details of fares and routes from the UK and Ireland.

Wizz Air’s crazy fares from £20

Germanwings and Centralwings have “crazy nights” with bargain flights, but Wizz Air, the Central European low-cost airline, is having a “crazy April”.

Book by Monday, May 1, to secure a seat from Glasgow-Prestwick to Gdansk from £20.20 one-way with taxes.

Thomsonfly link to Jersey from Cardiff

Holidaymakers from Cardiff will be able to jet off to the Channel Islands this summer on a new service from Thomsonfly.

From May 25 the airline will be offering four flights a week to Jersey from Cardiff International Airport.

Maria Heckel, of Thomsonfly, said: “The new route to Jersey is further proof of our commitment to Cardiff and we are pleased to be able to continue to offer great value flying to the people of South Wales.”

Flights will operate on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday allowing for both long weekend trips away to the Channel Islands as well as weekday business trips.

Trial of mobile phones on Ryanair flights

From as early as next year travellers flying with Ryanair could make mobile phone calls from their seats.

The Sunday Times reports that the Irish no-frills carrier is planning to set up a system to allow passengers to make mobile calls that will not interfere with land-based networks.

The airline, which turns over a revenue of some €1.7 billion per year, will profit from roaming charges and is also considering offering gambling services to passengers through their phones.

Knock to Dublin flight offered by Aer Arann

Irish airline Aer Arann is to begin flying between Knock and Dublin, offering passengers a 35-minute link between the two towns.

Aer Arann will offer a daily service from May 28 and the airline’s Micheal O’Callarain said they hope to ‘further develop the service over the coming months’.

Better services to come for air passengers

Air passengers in the UK can look forward to better facilities and a wider selection of services thanks to a steady inflow of investment into the airport industry.

As more and more people look for cheap flights, investors are becoming increasingly interested in airports.

Airports Council International (ACI), an airport representative body, describes airports as a "beacon of financial stability" within the ever-changing aviation industry, according to The Guardian.

Ryanair celebrates Munster win with free flights

Ryanair is marking Munster's 24-point victory over Leinster in the Heineken Cup by giving away thousands of free flights.

Some 24,000 passengers will be able to enjoy free flights from Shannon after the low-cost airline decided to give away 1,000 free flights for each point by which Munster beat Leinster.

A place to pamper before baby makes three

© Alamy

This is shaping up to be a bumper year for celebrity babies. Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise are celebrating the recent arrival of baby Suri and Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow have welcomed Moses into the world. We still have the Gwen Stefani-Gavin Rossdale little one and the Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie child, not to mention Rachel Weisz’s, Geri Halliwell’s and Davina McCall’s bairns to coo over too.

Remember that picture of a very pregnant bikini-clad Madonna (baby: Rocco) with her mud-smeared body? To ease her swollen ankles and aching muscles she headed to Pantelleria, a tiny volcanic island 110km from Sicily and 70km from Africa, that served as the backdrop to Il Postino, and is very popular with celebrities. Giorgio Armani has a house there, and Martin Scorsese and Julia Roberts have both visited.

Win a holiday with Cheapflights and SkyEurope

This competition is now closed

Every week for the next four weeks SkyEurope, in association with Cheapflights, is giving away a short break holiday.

The prize this week is up for grabs starting today: two return flights and two nights' accommodation in Bratislava for two people.

Enter now by answering the (incredibly simple) question for your chance to win a stay in the four star Hotel Danube.

The closing date is midnight on May 1 and the travel period is from May 1 to October 26, 2006. All taxes are included.

All that’s happening in the US

If you have one eye on the cheap flight news in the US then stay up-to-date with the latest at the Cheapflights.com website.

Over the past seven days there has been much talk about rising fuel costs and whether increased prices are on the way (see Oil price hikes: the end of cheap airline tickets?).

Inverness to Newcastle link from Eastern Airways

Eastern Airways will begin a new service between Inverness and Newcastle on June 5 2006, bringing the number of English destinations served from the Highland capital to four.

Flights will operate six times a week (except Saturday) and will depart Newcastle at 10.10am and Inverness at 11.35am.

Tickets will start from £99 return and the route has received support from the Scottish Executive’s Air Route Development Fund, which aims to improve air links for business and inbound tourism in Scotland.

bmi complete move at Manchester Airport

It’s all change for bmi flights leaving Manchester from the beginning of June, as the airline is to complete its move to terminal three.

Long haul services to the USA and Caribbean, as well as the regional Toulouse service, will leave their current home in terminal one and begin operations from terminal three on June 1.

Additional check-in desks and aircraft parking stands have been secured, helping to focus and streamline day-to-day operations in a single location.

New flights from Gatwick to Nova Scotia

Canadian airline Air Transat is to begin a new service from London Gatwick to Halifax, Nova Scotia, giving travellers the chance to experience the wild Atlantic coast.

Air Transat will operate a flight every Thursday, beginning on May 18, with return tickets starting from £243, inclusive of taxes and charges.

Wizz Air threatened by Ryanair

Wizz Air fears it will be forced to drive down prices as fellow low-cost operator Ryanair expands into the Central European budget airline market.

Wizz Air's chief executive, Jozsef Varadi said that Poland is likely to be the important "battle" area among budget airlines, in comments to the Warsaw Business Journal.

He claimed that the Polish market would be taken over by Wizz Air and Ryanair, with other competitors knocked out in a low price war.

Free tickets on Italian easyJet route blocked

EasyJet’s plan to offer free flights to passengers on its Milan to Olbia service was brought to a swift halt by Italian authorities.

The budget airline took the dramatic measure after facing objections to the flight from the Italian air travel regulator, ENAC.

Officials sought to block the new service by highlighting Public Servicing Obligations (PSO) designed to guarantee continued service on routes deemed to be unprofitable and remote.

Policemen at centre of air rage row

Off duty police officers allegedly involved in an air rage incident on an easyJet flight from Belfast to Newcastle are to be investigated.

Ten men were said to have caused a disturbance onboard the low-cost flight, which was forced to turn around and return to Belfast International Airport.

Several of those people removed from the aircraft were Northumbria police officers.

New aircraft for Wizz Air

Low-cost operator Wizz Air is to add an additional jet to its fleet in a bid to satisfy increased passenger demand for its services.

The new Airbus A320 aircraft, powered by V-2500 engines, will accommodate 180 passengers and has been contracted on a seven-year lease.

Four wheels good, two legs best? - Sunday travel section digest

It's St George's Day and The Mail on Sunday marks the day with a 500-mile drive (in a Morgan) around Britain's top attractions. Frank Barrett takes in Hastings for 1066, Malvern for Elgar's birthplace and the Morgan car factory, Liverpool for John Lennon's home and Grasmere for William Wordsworth's home.

Four wheels good, two wheels better? Tom Robbins in The Observer notes that 60 years ago today, the first Vespa rolled off the production line. He hits the highways and byways of Tuscany with Scooter Bella, which offers six-day guided Vespa trips. If you like the sound of that consider driving through other countries in their iconic vehicles: Paris by 2CV, Germany in a Trabant, Route 66 by Harley. The Observer has the roundup.

Ah, and given that the London Marathon takes place today, Peter Conchie (The Independent on Sunday) ups the ante and prepares to participate in a triathlon - just 1500m in open water, a 40km bike ride and 10km run. He joins a training day at Dulwich College in London, and feels, at the end of the day, that participating in a triathlon might not be such a daunting prospect. Unfortunately Conchie notes that entries for the Blenheim Triathlon on May 20-21 and London Triathlon on August 5-6 are closed, but there are still places available for The Ironman UK Triathlon at Sherborne in Dorset on August 20.