Flying Abroad - Cheap flight offers, travel information, city mini-guides and more...

Emirates expands Dubai to Auckland services

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:13:00 GMT

Emirates has extended it A380 super-jumbo network to include a daily service from Dubai to Sydney and on to the New Zealand capital Auckland.

The Dubai-based airline began operating an Airbus A380 on its route to Sydney and Auckland back in February with three weekly flights.

Emirates is currently the only carrier to operate trans-Tasman A380 flights. The extended service will make it possible to fly from Auckland or Sydney to Dubai and onto London Heathrow on exclusively super-jumbo services.

The airline’s A380 network will extend again to include services to Bangkok and Toronto, both from Dubai, from 1 June.
Stephen Pearse, Emirates’ vice president for Australia, said: “Emirates made a commitment to increased services to the Australian community some years ago and while we have promised big things for this market we have also delivered, even in the present economic times.”

Customers can enjoy a flat bed, shower spas and massage-equipped private suites in the first class cabin.

In business class, all 76 flatbed seats have aisle access. On the upper deck, the Emirates super-jumbo features a lounge available to all premium-class passengers.

Save money on flights with details of cheap flight deals, who flies where, city guides and travel advice provided at www.flyingabroad.co.uk.

New non stop service to Oslo from Thai Airways

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:23:00 GMT

Thai Airways has announced that plans to introduce a non-stop service from Bangkok to the Norwegian capital of Oslo from 15 June.

This will make it possible for Norwegian passengers and freight to catch direct connections to Thailand, while enabling the airline to make better use of its long-range Airbus capacity.

The service is the only new route introduced by the Asian airline in the past few years and follows the discontinuation of services to destinations including Johannesburg and New York.

Passengers will be able to travel to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport without having to take the current connections in Copenhagen or Stockholm from 15 June. Thai Airways expects congestion on its Copenhagen and Stockholm flights to be reduced as a result.

The number of Norwegian travellers arriving in Thailand has risen over the last three years by 14.3 per cent and Thailand was voted “the world’s best tourist country 2007″ in a poll in the Scandinavian country.

The launch of the Thai Airways’ Oslo service forms part of its plans to increase the use of its four A340-500s.

The sharp rise in fuel prices last year forced the carrier to discontinue its daily non-stop service to New York that had been running since May 2005.

Thai Airways will operate a five times weekly service to Oslo, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Save money on flights with details of cheap flight deals, who flies where, city guides and travel advice provided at www.flyingabroad.co.uk.

New Virgin Gatwick to Puerto Rico service

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:13:00 GMT

Virgin Atlantic has announced plans to launch flights from Gatwick Airport to San Juan in Puerto Rico.

The British airline will operate a weekly service to Puerto Rico via Antigua during its winter schedule, from 7 November until 24 April.

San Juan is already a major Caribbean port for cruise departures, but the current lack of direct services from the UK has forced UK holidaymakers to fly to the US first and take onward connections to Puerto Rico.

Virgin Atlantic’s chief executive, Steve Ridgway, said: “The launch of these services allows our sister company Virgin Holidays to offer a range of fantastic cruise holidays from the island, meaning that even more Virgin travellers can enjoy what this beautiful island has to offer.”

The airline will use a Boeing 747-400 with 14 seats in Upper Class, 58 in Premium Economy and 379 in the Economy cabin, to operate the Saturday service.

Virgina Atlantic already flies to number of other Caribbean destinations, including Antigua, Barbados, Grenada, Havana, Jamaica, St Lucia and Tobago.

Save money on flights with details of cheap flight deals, who flies where, city guides and travel advice provided at www.flyingabroad.co.uk.

Conservatives to axe second Stansted runway

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:03:00 GMT

Current plans to build a second runway at Stansted Airport would be axed if the Conservatives win the next election according to the shadow secretary of state for transport.

Theresa Villiers commented that she is "more convinced than ever that a second Stansted runway was environmentally unacceptable and could not be justified on economic grounds".

Ms Villiers’ statement came shortly after she met with members from campaign group Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) in Essex. The village where the meeting took place would be demolished as part of the airport’s expansion plans.

The current government has postponed the Public Inquiry into the application for the second runway at Stansted, which has experienced a 20 per cent decline in passenger figures in the past two years.

SSE’s economics adviser, Brian Ross, said that Ms Villiers was "remarkably well informed" about the contentious issues surrounding Stansted’s proposed expansion.

Mr Ross added that he was encouraged to see some of Britain's leading businessmen come out against the expansion plans earlier this week.

Airport operator BAA, which owns Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted, has been advised to sell the airport after an inquiry by the Competition Commission.

BAA hopes to raise up to £2 billion from the sale of Gatwick Airport, which it put on the market shortly after the inquiry concluded.

The bidding process for the airport has already closed, though the winning buyer has not yet been announced.

Save money on flights with details of cheap flight deals, who flies where, city guides and travel advice provided at www.flyingabroad.co.uk.

Icelandair restarts routes from Glasgow

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 15:53:00 GMT

Travellers using Glasgow Airport will be able to fly to Iceland again later this year.

Icelandair plans to run two flights a week to Iceland from Glasgow Airport from August 27.

The Nordic airline cancelled its 60 year-old service from Scotland because of Iceland’s economic climate.

Glasgow Airport’s managing director, Amanda McMillan, commented that Iceland is a "must see" destination in 2009.

Ms McMillan went on to say that the strength of the British pound against the Icelandic krona and the extra spending power it offers Brits makes Iceland even more appealing this year.

"This is excellent news for anyone interested in visiting this historic and fascinating country," she added.

In other Icelandair news, the airline also plans to operate a new route from London Heathrow Airport to Seattle, with a stop-over in Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik from July 22.

Save money on flights with details of cheap flight deals, who flies where, city guides and travel advice provided at www.flyingabroad.co.uk.

Coventry Airport is being sold

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:31:00 GMT

Coventry Airport has been put up for sale by its directors and shareholders.

Director of the West Midlands hub, Brian Cox, commented that the airport offers "excellent potential", adding that “presently we are concentrating on developing the airport as a Midland Hub for cargo, executive jets and ad hoc charter operations."

Mr Cox said that the airport, which lost its only passenger airline last year, was looking forward to reaching an agreement with a scheduled passenger carrier.

Thomsonfly left the airport last November because of alleged disagreements with the airport over chartered holiday flights, however the Coventry Telegraph claimed that the airline’s final departure was down to being denied permission to build a dedicated passenger terminal.

CAFCO-C, the current owners, bought Coventry Airport in 2006 from TUI and claim to have invested more than £6 million since then.

The CAFCO-C consortium is made up of Howard Holdings plc, an Anglo Irish property development group and Convergence-AFCO Holdings, an Anglo American airport management and development company, plans to sell the airport to the highest bidder.

There are four flight schools currently based at the airport, including a helicopter training centre.

Save money on flights with details of cheap flight deals, who flies where, city guides and travel advice provided at www.flyingabroad.co.uk.

Parking improvements at Aberdeen Airport

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:18:00 GMT

Work began last week in Aberdeen Airport’s car park to create an additional 500 car parking places at a cost of £5 million.

Aberdeen Airport’s development manager, Dan Peck, said that the work is on plan to be completed by September, adding that this is "roughly a quarter of the time that a project like this would usually take".

The increase in parking spaces is expected to mean less road congestion in and around the airport.

"The more parking opportunities there are at the airport, the less likely people are to be dropped off or picked up," Mr Peck added.

The Scottish airport celebrates its 75th anniversary this year and will see its catering facilities inside the main terminal building refurbished.

A new bar will be built in the departures area, coffee bars in the terminal will be modified and the Food Hub will be re-branded into ‘The Kitchen’.

More than three million passengers pass through Aberdeen Airport every year.

Save money on flights with details of cheap flight deals, who flies where, city guides and travel advice provided at www.flyingabroad.co.uk.

Air France discounted European fares

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:48:00 GMT

Air France has had some bad press recently with the recent Brazilian crash where one of its planes disappeared off the radar and crashed into the sea.

Statistically, flying is extremely safe and you have more chance of being knocked down crossing the road that being killed in a plane. Millions of miles are flown every year around out planet, and there are a very small number of incidents.

Whether they are trying to keep people flying or whether its just Air France's summer marketing, but they have some discounted fares/tickets for European flights over the coming months.

The offers below are valid up to 8th July and travel must be between now and 30th November.

Fares to Paris
Heathrow - From £89 Return
Bristol - From £89 Return
Southampton - From £79 Return
Birmingham - From £79 Return
Manchester - From £79 Return
Newcastle - From £99 Return
Edinburgh - From £99 Return
Aberdeen - From £169 Return

Deals from London City
(travel 14 July 09 - 06 Sep 09)
Paris - From £99 Return
Dundee - From £129 Return
Dublin - From £99 Return
Strasbourg - From £130 Return

Europe Deals
Fares from Heathrow/ London City Airport/ Southampton
For Bristol/Birmingham/Newcastle/Manchester/Edinburgh Add £10
For Aberdeen Add £30
Bordeaux / Milan/ Istanbul / Toulouse / Montpellier/ Sofia - From £149 Return
Athens / Malaga / Barcelona / Bologna / Bucharest / Florence / Helsinki / Lisbon / Ljubljana / Madrid / Naples/ Prague / Pisa / Roma / Venice / Verona / Zurich / Clermont Ferrand / Lourdes Tarbes / Lyon / Marseille - From £159 Return
Tunis / Rabat / Casablanca / Algiers / Tel Aviv - From £259 Return

Save money on flights with details of cheap flight deals, who flies where, city guides and travel advice provided at www.flyingabroad.co.uk.

Fly to Spain and Portugal for only 37 pounds

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:43:00 GMT

easyJet are promoting Spain and Portugal with cheap ticket prices this summer.

"don't rely on the British weather and get away this summer" is their marketing strapline - but if you did want to fly to guaranteed sun, how much would it cost.

If you flew from London Gatwick, Luton or Stansted airports to either Malaga or Faro this summer, a single flight including taxes would cost from £36.99.

As easyJet raise ticket prices as it gets closer to the departure date, and as the number of available tickets decreases, you can be sure that this cost will increase.

Our advice would be to book early to avoid disappointment!

Save money on flights with details of cheap flight deals, who flies where, city guides and travel advice provided at www.flyingabroad.co.uk.

Ryanair to close all check in desks

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 08:14:00 GMT

Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O'Leary, has confirmed that the airline will close all its check-in desks by October 2010, meaning that passengers will have to use the online check-in service.

Mr O’Leary claimed that the move would save Ryanair somewhere in the region of €50m a year and result in 40 to 50 job losses in Ireland.

He also described the figures released today by rival airline Aer Lingus as “appalling”, but ruled out another Ryanair bid to takeover the airline.

Mr O’Leary made his comments in London, where he announced a new licensing agreement for websites

Save money on flights with details of cheap flight deals, who flies where, city guides and travel advice provided at www.flyingabroad.co.uk.