As half-term – and October – reach a conclusion, the departure screens at Britain’s airports are starting to look patchy. Many Mediterranean routes to the Greek islands and Spanish costas are vanishing until next spring. Higher fuel prices mean airlines will be keeping more planes grounded this winter rather than fly them at a loss. But as Greg Dickinson and I discuss in the new edition of The Travel Expert, the constant churn of new routes continues.
Christmas is only eight weeks away, and represents the most profitable stretch of winter for carriers (with the possible exception of ski flights and Canary Islands links during February half term). Conversely, November is the lowest-demand month of the year, so airlines are not overly eager to start every new route immediately. But when they do start, fares are likely to be attractive in a bid to generate interest in new links.
Regular British Airways passengers at Heathrow could be caught out by another swathe of route moves from BA’s main home at Terminal 5 to its “sub-hub” at Terminal 3. European links to Lyon, Naples (but not in November), Palma, Palermo, Salzburg and Tirana have shifted east to T3, along with three transatlantic routes: Austin, Baltimore-Washington and Vancouver.
Short-haul surprises
The most welcome addition is Wizz Air’s route to Granada from its main UK base, London Luton. The Andalusian city has had only intermittent services from Britain in the past – far fewer than its dramatic setting, dominated by the vast and elegant Alhambra fortress, deserves.
Granada is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains and best visited in winter – when the crowds have melted away, and when you can access Europe’s southernmost winter sports resort.
You can easily combine Granada with Malaga for a ski-and-sunshine trip; the two are connected by train in 90 minutes. Construct an “open-jaw” itinerary – out to one and back from the other – and you won’t need to retrace your steps. While Malaga has plenty of flights, the Luton-Granada link is only on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
UK airlines are also flying to more Christmas-market cities than ever before between now and the end of the year, with Strasbourg the stand-out. France’s easternmost city gets links from Manchester as well as Gatwick on easyJet. Jet2 will serve the Rhine city from Edinburgh and Stansted, and compete with easyJet on Manchester.
Besides its own celebrated Yuletide festivities and outstanding architecture, Strasbourg gives easy access to Colmar – another festive destination – as well as Mulhouse and the Swiss city of Basel. You could combine two or more Christmas markets on the same trip.
Hampshire and Essex links
With the capital’s main airports increasingly congested, easyJet has some options from further-flung airports serving south-east England. Southampton has a new connection to Paris Charles de Gaulle, providing a valuable alternative to the French capital for travellers in south-west London and Surrey. Southampton Airport’s dedicated station is just an hour by train from Clapham Junction, and 41 minutes from Woking.
Manchester joins the route network from the Hampshire city on December 4. Fares from Southampton are easily available below £20 – much cheaper than CrossCountry Trains, and at just an hour in the air, significantly quicker than the 4h15m rail journey.
Southend Airport, in south-east Essex, has launched new easyJet routes to two very different capitals: Budapest and Edinburgh. Belfast City follows on Monday, November 2.
Egyptian inaugurations
Cairo airport has just been connected with Birmingham thanks to the national airline, Egyptair. Many of the passengers are expected to be connecting to African destinations such as Nairobi and Zanzibar, as well as points in Asia.
A trio of Red Sea routes has been launched by easyJet: from Belfast International and Edinburgh to Sharm el Sheikh, and from Newcastle to Hurghada. Starting on November 9, Manchester will be linked to Giza – the new and much-improved airport for the Egyptian capital.
Thai buys
You wait for ages for a scheduled link to the Thai island of Phuket and two come along at once. Earlier this month Virgin Atlantic launched flights from London Heathrow to Phuket, and from December 4 Norse Atlantic Airways will compete from London Gatwick to the island. Northwest England gets reconnected with Thailand on December 5 with another Norse Atlantic route, from Manchester to Bangkok.
None to Naples in November
Naples disappears from all flight schedules for the entire month of November as the runway is restored. The best way in and out is the three-hour FlixBus link direct from Rome Fiumicino Airport.