Posted Tuesday, April 01, 2008, 4:32 AM by Lonely Planet
A new era has dawned: welcome to the age of open skies. What does this much-trumpeted transatlantic air agreement mean for travellers? Not that much, it seems.
Open skies has long been a dream of airlines. Until this week, only four airlines have been able to operate from London's Heathrow airport to US destinations. From today any EU or US-based airline can do just that - provided it's got a landing slot, that is. Indeed, these airlines can operate a route from between any two airports in the EU or US. The idea is simple: open skies means more choice and more competition.
So far, so nice for travellers who aren't very well served by existing routes. Air France has launched a London to Los Angeles service, while Northwest and Continental are serving more US destinations direct from the UK. Travellers between London and New York will benefit from 7000 extra seats a week.
You'd think all this would mean cheaper flights, but it seems that this is unlikely. Economy fares have come down a lot over the past few years, and fuel prices look set to keep costs steady. All these airlines are going after the lucrative business market, and fares here could well come down. There's still a long way to go before these fares get within splurge range of most of us.
In summary: open skies means more routes, more seats but not cheaper flights. In the absence of the latter, an open-jawed yawn is likely to be most travellers' reaction.
- Tom Hall
Labels: Airports, Europe, Travelsnitch
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1 Comments:
Hi - I'm Kriss from Manchester. The big debate on air travel at the moment for me, is flights to Eastern Europe. I have a house in Bulgaria and over the past 2 or 3 years I've been hearing numerous comments from people, both here in the UK - and in Bulgaria (Brits and Bulgarians alike) that prices to Bourgas, Varna and Sofia are going through the roof. Yes, in some cases they are. ThomsonFly and First Choice have pulled the plug on Varna for summer 2008 and are only flying into Bourgas (F.C. are doing Plovdiv this winter, for the skiing). All is not lost. Listen.... You read Lonely Planet, right?? So you're not a sit on the beach - and get the first deal you can person, are you?? Of course you're not.
So, let's get ambitious.... Here are just a few of the many deals out of the UK at present (July 2008), to Bulgaria and beyond. All the flights listed are returns and include tax - surcharges etc. So what you see, is the total price.
Jet2.com - Manchester/Budapest £70
EasyJet - Gatwick/Sofia £82
RyanAir - Liverpool/Pisa, Pisa/Constanta £109
Wizzair - Sofia/Varna.... wait for it £9 (Yes - NINE POUNDS RETURN) And remember, that includes all the extras.
Air Berlin - Manchester/Berlin, Berlin/Varna £158
Wizzair - Budapest/Bourgas £68
EasyJet - Liverpool/Krakow £72
Wizzair - Luton/Zagreb £81
EasyJet - Stansted/Prague £52
It really is that possible - and easy. We're not package holiday or charter flight only fans, are we?? Of course not. We want adventure. What an opportunity not to be missed. Liverpool, the 2008 Capital City of Culture, John Lennon Airport ("Above Us Only Sky") to one of the most famous destinations in the world....Pisa, 9 hours to roam around a wonderous destination, then on to Constanta, Romania - a quick coach ride up to Tulcea to see the Danube Delta and one of the planet's most wonderful wild bird reserves (all free, incidentally), all for an airfare of just over £100 return. By the way, the Pisa/Constanta flights are also available with RyanAir from Stansted as well. From Constanta to the Ukraine is just a short ride too. Oh - and Bulgaria is just back down the other way, heading south, along the Black Sea coast road.
There are so many other flight deals to be had. These are just a few that I've picked out.
Another one that just came to mind, how about....
EasyJet - Gatwick/Corfu, then the little 45 minute ferry from Corfu Town to Saranda, Albania. The whole travel cost for flight, ferry and small Albania entry/exit fee is under £150 return. I challenge you to find a return flight to Albania from either Manchester or Heathrow for less than £300. I'm not a travel agent, just a traveller.
I'm not saying the list is endless, but once you start checking out flights this way, you may just believe it is.
Happy travelling.... Kriss.
PS.... Can't stop, off to Bulgaria in a few days. Lucky me.
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