Manchester cheap flights 'victory'
John Scheerhout
BOOMING Manchester Airport is soaring ahead of Liverpool as the budget travel capital of the north.
It now offers 24 low-cost destinations compared with 12 from its closest rival.
It comes after MyTravelLite was named as the fourth no-frills carrier to be based at Manchester, with new cheap flights to mainland Spain and Tenerife from £38 return.
And established full service airlines like British Airways, Monarch Scheduled and Air 2000 have unveiled yet more new routes and again slashed some fares to around £60 for a return.
The developments represent another boost for Manchester Airport as it seeks to break the 20m passengers a year barrier for the first time.
And they show that Manchester - once a by-word for expensive air travel - is now winning its air fares battle with Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
At Liverpool, two no-frills carriers, easyJet and Ryanair, offer 12 budget destinations between them. Until now, thousands of budget travellers from Greater Manchester were forced to go to Liverpool for low-cost air fares. EasyJet even laid on a bus from Manchester to Liverpool to make it easier.
Landing fees
But Manchester Airport slashed its landing fees to airlines and in the last few months three no-frills airlines have set up at Manchester while other carriers and charter airlines have introduced new routes and slashed fares.
No-frills carriers Ryanair, Hapag-Lloyd Express, bmibaby and MyTravelLite - which do not provide a meal or drinks as part of the fare - now offer 13 routes to 12 different destinations from Manchester, about the same as Liverpool.
But full service scheduled airlines at Manchester are also now offering low-cost travel, with BA, Monarch Scheduled and Air 2000 offering more than 20 destinations at between £60 and £100 for a return to a series of European destinations. It means eight airlines at Manchester now boast 35 low-cost services to 24 destinations.
Manchester Airport managing director John Spooner said: "Our aim is to promote Manchester as having an unrivalled choice of carriers and destinations. It's nice to be leading in the no-frills sector as well."
But Liverpool hit back with Neil Pakey, managing director of Liverpool John Lennon Airport, describing as "nonsense" suggestions that Manchester Airport had taken Liverpool's title of the budget travel capital of the region.
He said: "We are the leading low-cost airport in the north west.", He said that including charter companies like Air 2000 which offer flight-only services was unfair because they required minimum stays, usually of a week.
Market
He said: "That's comparing apples with pears. EasyJet and Ryanair offer set daily frequencies.
"Bmibaby are doing it at Manchester and good luck to them. Manchester can grow in this market as well as Liverpool and it's good for the consumer."
From November 1, no-frills carrier MyTravelLite, which already flies out of Birmingham and Gatwick airports, will offer daily flights from Manchester to Murcia in southern Spain from £19 and to Tenerife from £39 one-way including taxes.
The new routes, serviced with Airbus A320 aircraft from the airline's Manchester-based parent company MyTravel, will operate for the winter season until the end of March, when the airline will consider making them year-round destinations.
Monarch Scheduled, which already offers cheap fares to Spain and Portugal from Manchester, announced two new budget routes - Gibraltar and Tenerife.
The airline will operate a daily Tenerife service, from £87 return, and a three-times-a-week Gibraltar flight, from £70 return, from November.
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