Holiday flight tonic
John Scheerhout
HOLIDAY flights are booming at Manchester Airport.
And charter airlines are adding more routes to the sun as well as direct services to more exotic destinations.
It will mean passengers don't have to travel via Heathrow.
Charter traffic increased by eight per cent in April compared to the same month last year, with airlines handling 39,000 more passengers, according to the latest airport figures.
The airport says 533,616 passengers travelled through the three terminals on charter flights in the bumper month.
And the upward trend will continue as charter operators beef up operations from Manchester and launch new routes.
Operations
Astraeus has created 35 new jobs by doubling its operations in only its second year flying out of Manchester Airport, with new flights to Jerez de la Frontera in Spain, new services to Olbia in Sardinia and Venice.
It has also unveiled extra flights to Malta, the Greek Islands, Malaga and Murcia, and the Costa Calida coast in Spain.
Meanwhile, Sale-based tour operator CT2 is launching direct services between Manchester and Durban and Cape Town in South Africa. Previously, passengers were forced to travel via Heathrow or other hub airports.
Airport managing director John Spooner said: "This summer we're proud to be offering our greatest ever choice of airlines and destinations.
"With direct flights to 180 destinations worldwide and higher frequencies to the most popular holiday hotspots, Manchester Airport is making it easy for passengers to fly where they want, when they want."
Airport baby just grows and grows
AIRLINES have introduced new services at Manchester to cope with a passenger boom.
Budget airline bmibaby has unveiled another cut-price route - to Europe's party capital Ibiza.
The daily service, from £52 return including taxes, starts on May 29. It will be the airline's 13th destination from Manchester since becoming the airport's first major no-frills carrier last May.
The move is among a raft of new and enhanced services at the airport.
Bmibaby marketing director David Hodge said: "We're celebrating our first anniversary of services from Manchester on May 1 and by then we'll have added five new destinations to our portfolio."
British Airways has introduced new routes and extra flights to cope with mushrooming demand, while Pakistan International Airlines has made Manchester its largest hub outside Pakistan, increasing flights to Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad from 18 to 29 a week.
From March 28, BA will introduce additional flights to Copenhagen, the Isle of Man, Paris, Rome, Stuttgart, Hanover and Oslo. It will also introduce bigger planes with more seats on routes to Venice, Vienna and Pisa - all routes launched within the last 17 months - as well as to Nice and Zurich.
David Neill, head of commercial planning for British Airways CitiExpress, the airline's short-haul arm, said: "We are delighted with the early success of these new routes and the continued support from our customers.
"We also know that in order for us to continue to offer customers the best choice, we have to match capacity to demand by putting higher-frequency, smaller jets on primary business routes and larger jets on more leisure-orientated services."
Fledgling airline Air Southwest will launch the first twice-daily return service from Manchester to Plymouth, stopping at Bristol on the way, on March 1. Return fares to Plymouth cost from £85 and to Bristol from £75 including tax, although seats are being offered from half those prices as part of a launch offer for travel in March.
Managing director Malcolm Naylor said: "Devon and Cornwall are hugely popular with people from the north west, but until now they've never been able to fly there, and have often had to endure hours of traffic jam misery during peak periods."
CSA Czech Airlines, which has already slashed fares with a return from £89 including tax, is increasing flights between Manchester and Prague this summer from 10 flights weekly to 13.
The service will operate twice daily except for Sunday, when there will be a single service.
CSA director for the UK, Bohuslav Santrucek, said: "Manchester is growing in importance for CSA, and with the Czech Republic coming into the European Union on May 1, we are confident that not only Prague, but other centres, such as the spa resort of Marienbad and heritage sites such as Kutna Hora and Cesky Krumlov, will become better known."
Aurigny plans to operate extra services to Guernsey this summer and also plans to launch a five-times-a-week Manchester to Jersey flights.
Greek airline Olympic Airlines plans a third weekly service to Athens for the Olympic Games.
Earlier this month, the airport celebrated reaching 20m passengers a year for the first time - and bosses believe this figure could double by 2015.
Flight articles
Get the word on flight updates
MANCHESTER Airport has launched a pilot scheme to send passengers the latest flight information via text messages to mobile phones.
42-hour delay hits sunseekers
HALF-TERM holidaymakers faced misery at Manchester Airport at the weekend after a flight was delayed for 42 hours.
Shuttle service back in air
FLIGHTS from Manchester Airport to Heathrow resumed today after the strike caused chaos for thousands of north west passengers.
Manchester to capital in an hour
BELGIAN airline VLM launched its inaugural flight from Manchester into the heart of London yesterday - and threw down the gauntlet to major carriers and the rail network.
Harbour lights
STRONGER trade and travel links with Copenhagen, the Danish capital, have taken off with the launch of a new twice-daily flight.
Delta re-launch daily New York service
DELTA Air Lines has re-launched daily flights between Manchester and New York, hoping the weak US dollar will lure business and leisure travellers.
Lisa, the grand lady of flight
THEY have never really been punk rockers but, believe it or not, The Eagles are mellower than ever.
Manchester is cheap flight capital of the north
MANCHESTER Airport established itself as the cheap flight capital of the north today with a major new no-frills airline flying to nine destinations.
Emirates mulls third daily flight to Dubai
EMIRATES is mulling a THIRD daily flight between Manchester and Dubai.
Soaraway success
MANCHESTER Airport's bid to break the 20 million passengers-a-year barrier has been boosted by new routes, enhanced services and cut-price fares.
Make way for Captain Mike
A MANCHESTER-based airline is preparing for take-off - with its first holiday flight just days away.
Manchester cheap flights 'victory'
BOOMING Manchester Airport is soaring ahead of Liverpool as the budget travel capital of the north.
Holiday flight tonic
HOLIDAY flights are booming at Manchester Airport.
Airport baby just grows and grows
AIRLINES have introduced new services at Manchester to cope with a passenger boom.
Airline offers free flights to capital
A LOW cost airline is offering free flights between London and Manchester Jet2.com is offering passengers free flights between the two cities to celebrate the launch of its low cost service on January 17.
More bites at the Big Apple
CONTINENTAL Airlines is introducing a second daily flight from Manchester to New York in response to growing demand from tourists and business travellers.
Iceland direct from Manchester
FLIGHTS to the Icelandic capital Reykjavik are to be launched from Manchester. Icelandair will start twice-weekly services next April, using a Boeing 757 with 167 economy class and 22 business class seats.
Airport bosses look to the East
BOSSES at booming Manchester Airport are in talks to secure scheduled flights to China, Hong Kong, Thailand and India.
Airport still flying high
AIRLINES are suffering as people avoid travelling long distances because of the the war in Iraq - but short-haul flights from Manchester are booming.
Flying commuters beat train delays
EMIRATES is mulling a THIRD daily flight between Manchester and Dubai.
Passengers are snapping up services to big cities
AMERICA is opening up to north-west air passengers after a big boom in transatlantic flights from Manchester Airport.
Manchester hub for BA expansion
BUSINESS travellers in the north west received a boost today when British Airways unveiled extra flights between Manchester and destinations throughout Europe.
